A Twist In My Story
by ThePurpleDragonOfAmazingness
Summary: All Human. BxE Bella is having a really bad day. When she meets Edward, he seems to fix all that. They keep running into each other, and there experiences bring them closer together. Will they end up being more than friends? **ON HOLD**
1. The Stores From Hell

**1. The Stores From Hell**

**Bella.**

"Ugh." I hated shopping. And Alice _knew _this. Which makes me wonder why she always dragged me along. You'd have thought that she would have realized, by now, that even _Jasper_ is better company than me!! And he is a guy, for crying out loud! But all he has to do is carry the very-masculine-looking pink Victoria's Secret bags around as he follows after Alice. I, on the other hand, fell victim to Alice and her merciless game of Barbie-Doll-Bella. The mall, for both me and Jasper, has become a personal hell for us both. Seriously. Alice always thought that we would 'overreact' whenever we walked within a 200-yard-diameter of the mall and acted as if it had fangs. Honestly, it might as well have had fangs.

"Quit complaining, Bella." Alice said quickly as she tugged at my wrist, only to make my feet shuffle forward a few inches. "It isn't just _any_ normal shopping day," of course not. All shopping trips were _special. _"we're going shopping for your date, silly!"

"What date?! Alice, what did you do?! You know I hate blind dates!!" I fumed. I. Just. URG!! Great, I can't even form an intelligible thought. That's how angry I was at her. She didn't seem to notice. Big mistake on her part.

"Come on Bella! You are in _desperate_ need of a social life, and you know it!"

"Alice, if you know that I already knew it, then why do you bother telling me?! Better yet, if you know that I know, which I _do_, then don't you think that I would work at my own speed?! I don't need to rush into things like you seem to think I do."

"Aw, Bells, please don't be mad. It's just...really depressing to watch you try and have fun when you go out with Jazz, Rose, Emmett, and I, when really you just feel like a fifth wheel." That was true. "So...I decided to change that! You can thank me later!!" Why, Alice? Why on earth would I want to thank you? _Help!!_ I screamed internally.

Alice pulled even harder at my wrist, forcing me to take a couple of involuntary steps forward, before I gave up altogether. There was no way I could win. Cruel, cruel world...

--

Wow. New record. We have been shopping for all of...wow, 30 minutes. And I ALREADY have 8 (different) bags of clothes that I will most likely never wear. Jasper looked pretty tired after a while, so I took some of his burden off. And I instantly regretted it. I could already feel the circulation in my wrist/ hand/ fingers being cut off. How does Alice go from store-to-store SO FAST?! My feet are killing me! And there goes Alice, out of yet again ANOTHER store, one that I haven't even been into yet. She just kept going. In the time it took me to get into Abercrombie, she had already been in 3 other stores, all of which obviously disappointed her, because she came out carrying nothing.

I, personally, don't see what's so special about Abercrombie. The shirts just say 'Abercrombie' and nothing more. Usually. The occasional 'Fitch' shirt, too.

It also smelled. It was so sweet and sickly, that it instantly made my nose burn, my mouth dry, and my head spin. It also throbbed. Ugh. I didn't feel so well anymore. Stupid Abercrombie. "Uh...Alice...I need to leave...this store is making...everything feel funny..." I said as I tried to walk out. I was only three feet from the exit. Wow. I couldn't even get further than 3 feet into a store without feeling sick. Yet _another_ record was broken. Woo-hoo. My lucky day.

"Fine. The food court is just around the corner. Wait for me there, okay?" Alice said. I nodded, afraid to open my mouth.

So, I walked around the corner, and sure enough, the food court was there. I wasn't at all surprised that Alice had the layout of the mall memorized, not one little bit. However, I didn't really care. I sat on a bench, just to get back up again. It was just too noisy, with little kids begging their moms to buy them things, or squealing girls gushing over who's-taking-who to the prom.

My already-throbbing head really couldn't take much more of this.

I stood up and I saw a very peaceful looking café up ahead. About time something good happened to me. I was beginning to think that this day would never look up.

I put my hand over my forehead to hopefully make the throbbing subside, to no avail. I shrugged off to the café, not caring that I probably looked like I was about to die, and made my way over to the nearest empty table.

I pulled out the chair, but when I went to sit down, I already knew it was a lost cause. My trajectory was way off. I turned at the wrong angle and missed the chair by about 2 inches.

Wow. Fail.

I closed my eyes and prepared for impact with my long-time-buddy, the floor.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize that the impact never happened. Though, that could just be my brain reacting to the fume of 'Abercrombie'...But, no. I opened my eyes and looked down to see that a pair of hands had braced my fall. I exhaled sharply, glad that I, this time, I didn't have to be hurt by my own clumsiness.

This time.

I got up and spun around so I could properly thank whoever saved me, not that I honestly cared. I just wanted to be alone, so that this stupid headache could go away. As soon as I saw his face, my headache felt on million miles away, though.

As I looked into his glistening emerald eyes, I realized that he was..beautiful? No, that word did him no justice. Gorgeous? Still too vague. Godly. That seemed fitting. His bronze hair looked like he had just rolled out of bed, and he still looked absolutely perfect. I felt a pang of jealously. I knew most people were more interesting than me, but he went above and beyond that. He didn't even fit into the same little bubble as the rest of the world. He had his own little bubble. No fair. I wanted to stick my tongue out, but that would look really strange, I'm sure.

That's about when I realized that I wasn't breathing. "Thank you." I exhaled. I sounded like I had just gotten the breath knocked out of me. Honestly, I had.

"No problem." He said. His voice was like music. _Music!_ That was just messed up, and I had no idea why. "You don't look so well...and you didn't even come close to the chair." He said with somewhat of a smirk on his face. Then it went away. "Are you okay?" He said with evident concern in his voice. I could feel his eyes bore into me, as if trying to lift the answer from my mind.

Wow.

Just...WOW.

I probably looked like total idiot, just standing there. I began to grow self-conscious, and I could feel the warmth rush up to my cheeks. I nodded, and small part of me wondered why I would _not_ be okay. Then I remembered my headache. Would sound weird if I said that as soon as I looked at him, I completely forgot that it was there? I felt compelled to explain. "You probably thought I was drunk or something. I'm not. I get like this every time I come out of Abercrombie. Nothing new." he smiled and let out a chuckle and, if it was even possible, he looked even more unbelievable than before.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Bella," I answer automatically, without even thinking. Bad idea. What was my last name again? ...Oh, right. "Swan. Bella Swan."

"Bella." he smiled.

"Edward, get your ass over here! Jazz said he'd be here, and we need to save him!! Come ON!"

He looked back at whoever yelled. _Edward._ Wow.

"Shut it, Emmett! I'll be there in a second! I'm sure he won't die if we wait an extra minute." Then he turned back to me. "Well, as you can see, I need to go. Remember," He said with a smirk on his face again, "No more going into Abercrombie."

I nodded, and he turned and ran towards the one he called Emmett. Huh. Jasper's nickname was Jazz...eh, probably no relation at all.

My thought started to wander. _Why couldn't all guys be like Edward? More importantly, why can't the guys I date be like Edward? _I sighed. Like that would ever happen. I'll probably never even see him again. As if I even had a chance with a guy like him at all. I immediately dismissed the thought. I would try and make this date I had as enjoyable (gag) as possible, and I would never accomplish that if I was thinking about some random stranger from the mall. Good job.

I was going to tell Alice that I was going to go home and get ready. It took me a second to realize that I had no idea where Alice and Jasper were. They could be on the other side of the mall for all I knew. I really didn't want to walk that far, so I just did the lazy thing. I called her.

"_Hello?" _a perky voice said into the phone.

"Alice? I'm going to home. I seriously don't feel well. Shop for me, just like you always do, k?" LIE. I felt fine, aside from the whole _mall_ and _date_ thing. I just honestly wanted to leave

"_Ugh. You're such a party-pooper. Whatever. See you at home then."_

"See you." I hung up the phone and ran out to the parking lot to my car. Jasper came in his car, so they could still get home okay. That was good, cause I didn't want to spend another second in the mall. Ever again.

_**Jasper.**_

Where are they?! They were supposed to save me...5 minutes ago! Okay, I'm being a little impatient. With good reason. I hate shopping. I hate when Alice drags me along. I love her dearly, but I absolutely loathe shopping with every fiber of my being.

Then it hit me. They might not even find me. _Joy!_ Alice goes in and out of stores with superhuman speed. Emmett might not even spot us if we are going at twice the legal limit while shopping. In the time it took them to look through 3 stores for us, we could make it all the way across the mall and back...twice. I could turn my phone on...but I can't reach it.

Fantastic.

It's in my back pocket, and with all the bags I'm carrying, there is no possible way I can reach it with getting into the most awkward position possible.

_Then_ it hit me. Quite literally, this time. The wall.

Thankfully, I only hit my head, so I didn't lose my balance. But, chances are, I looked pretty stupid walking head-first into a wall.

"Jazz, are you okay?" Alice called to me.

"Yeah..." I rubbed the side of my head the hit the wall. _That's gonna leave a mark. _I thought as I tried (futilely) to get the swelling to go down. That's _so _attractive, Jasper. Smooth.

"Jazzy, it's Bella's job to be clumsy!" Alice joked.

"Well, I'm being clumsy for the both of us, since she's not here and all." Where was she, anyway? Oh, yeah, she called Alice to tell her that she was leaving. Ugh. My head injury was giving me short-term-memory-loss.

"Come on, Jazz, just one more store left, promise!!"

Yes!!

_Oh no. Oh...no._ I thought as I figured out what store she planned to go in.

I swear I whimpered a little as I took one step closer to Victoria's Secret. The store from _hell._

Edward and Emmett are so going to get it later.

**A/N mmmmk, so that was chapter one. 2 little notes:**

–**One, I will do 2 POVs each chapter. The first one will be important (usually it will be Edward's or Bella's) and the second one will just be random and for my enjoyment, like Jasper :)**

–**Two, every chapter I will recommend a song at the end, sometimes 2. I would really appreciate it if you told me what you think about the song in your review! 2 songs today!**

**1. 'Dark Blue' – Jack's Mannequin**

**2. 'Here (In** **Your Arms)' – Hellogoodbye**

**(Betcha can't guess who her dates gonna be... :)**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**No, seriously, you'll never guess. I promise. Or maybe you will...I dunno :) It could be anyone. Even Bob the math teacher. Hmmm...)**

**teehee. Got ya thinking, didn't it?**

**.byee**

**I luvs u alllll :)**

–**Jazz**


	2. The Epitome Of Horrible Days

**Thanks to all who reviewed!! Sorry, no 2****nd**** POV this chap. It was long enough without it, plus, I couldn't really find a minor character that would be interesting. More about that at the bottom, so you have to read to get there :)**

**2. The Epitome Of Horrible Days**

**Bella.**

"And...There! Perfect!" Alice said, then jumped back to observe her work. "Wow Bella. I almost didn't recognize you!"

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my dress. Just a simple black one, complete with a pair of heels that really made me nervous. I couldn't even look at them. Truthfully, I didn't even know what color they were. As long as I was going to have to wear them, I was going to try and act like they weren't even there.

"You're all ready to go!" Great. And so it begins. "Are you excited?" She said, acting like her normal, hyperactive self.

"No." I responded flatly.

"I guessed you would say that. Oh well. I'll be excited for the both of us then!!" She replied, just as perky as before.

I sighed. "Woo-hoo." I said as I humored her by clapping my hands with mock enthusiasm.

"Oh, Bella...Don't be like that! I went through all this trouble, and you're just so ungrateful!"

"I would have been more grateful if you didn't go through any trouble at all." I replied truthfully.

"Fine. Be like that. You're still going, so don't make me force you into my car." I let out another sigh. There was just no way to beat Alice.

We walked out the door, and I didn't even bother to look at myself. I really didn't want to know what she did to my face. I probably didn't even look like myself. She herself said that she almost didn't recognize me. I liked how I looked before. Normal looking, average. If I looked like what Alice wanted me to look like, then it didn't look like me at all.

As we entered her yellow Porsche, I made sure not to look into the mirrors, either. In fact, I steered clear of any reflective surface possible. Sure I was a little paranoid, but who cares?

As we pulled up to the restaurant called _New Moon_, (**not very original, I know, but I couldn't think of anything else**) Alice looked at me and said, "Alright, it's under my name. I told you date that, too, so you should Be able to figure out that it's him when he comes up to your table, k?"

"Yeah, sure..." I mumbled as I stepped out of her car. Here goes everything.

As I walked into the restaurant, I told the waiter-person (I was no good at fancy-place terminology) what party I was under and he guided me to a table with (surprise, surprise) someone sitting at it.

He didn't look that bad – blond hair, light blue eyes – until he opened his mouth.

My problem wasn't that he _opened_ his mouth, it was that he never _closed_ it.

10 minutes...I learned that he had a dog.

20 minutes...I learned that his parent's names were Bill and Jane.

30 minutes...He killed a goldfish when he was 5 because he forgot to feed it.

40 minutes...I was ready to hang myself.

I couldn't get a word in ALL NIGHT. I'm not even sure if he knew my name! I sure knew his.

"...and then they said, 'Mike, your so silly!'..."

SHUT. UP.

Could he NOT see that I was at a breaking point?!

He stopped. "What?" he asked, looking confused.

It took me a second to realize that I had said that out loud. Well, I couldn't really hear myself over him, anyway.

"I said 'Shut up.' Please excuse the fact that I so rudely interrupted you life story. Be sure to pick up where you left off with some other girl, k?" I said, quite sourly, as I gathered my jacket and purse.

Only after I exited the restaurant did I realize that Alice drove me here. _Fantastic!_ This world just hated me today.

No matter. I'll just call her.

I pulled my phone out of my purse, I saw that it had no battery. I just wanted to throw it at the freaking wall like it was it's fault that it's dead. UGH!! Well, I most definitely wasn't going back in there to be greeted by 'Lord Pighead, Mike the Conceited', so that was out. I couldn't get a hold of Alice OR Rose, so that was also out. Fine! As long as this day is already being a bitch, I'll just walk home then!

And...then it started raining.

Just.

My.

Luck.

Okay, I REALLY needed to kick something. HARD.

And, to top it all off, I STILL had no other choice but to walk home, IN THE RAIN! Hurray for me.

Whoopdie-dingle-FREAKIN-doo.

I started walking, not exactly sure where I was going. Not that I cared.

I got about 3 blocks when the anger finally faded and, in turn, my eyes filled with tears. Why couldn't just _one_ good thing happen to me today? Anything! I mean, I know that I had really bad luck, but did I really deserve this?

I continued walking forward, slower this time, and for once, I was even happy that it was raining. No one could see me cry if it was raining.

So, I was soaking wet. So, I was shivering convulsively. So, I was completely miserable. So, this day wasn't one of my best days.

It could always be worse. It could definitely be worse.

I walked another 2 blocks just to realize that I had no idea where I was. I sighed, but kept walking. It didn't matter, at any rate. The rain obscured my vision whenever I looked up, so I just looked at my feet and walked in a strait line. Hopefully, 'strait' won't bring me into a wall.

I should've figured that, even though I was looking at my feet, I was bound to stumble. I tripped here and there, nothing too bad. But it was getting really dark, and the tripping became more and more frequent. My legs were beginning to throb from walking so much.

Finally, My legs gave out, and I tripped over nothing. Fortunately, I didn't land in a wall, though. But I never hit the ground, either. Two times today. Two times I fell, and two times I didn't get hurt.

"Woah!" I heard someone say as whatever they were carrying hit the ground. Some kind of beverage, I think. It made somewhat of slosh-y kind of noise. Whoever caught me helped me to stable me, and I caught a glimpse of the sign before I looked down at my feet again. Of course he dropped a coffee. We were right outside Starbucks.

"Are you oka— Bella?" He said. I knew the voice from...somewhere. I couldn't quite match it to a face, though, or a name. But I looked up anyway.

_Edward. _He was here, and I fell into him _again._ First the mall, and now this. Gosh, I was on a roll today.

"Edward, right?" My voice was really weak, but I had to ask. I didn't want to screw up this conversation by getting his name wrong.

"Yeah." He said. "Bella, are you okay?"

I had to think about it for a second. Was I okay? "No, not really." My voice was still shaky and my teeth were clinking together because of the cold.

"What's wrong?" There was something that I wasn't used to seeing, in general, but it was there in his eyes. It took me a minute or so to figure out what it was. Concern. He really cared. How long had I known him? 20 minutes, tops? And he honestly wanted to know what was bothering me.

"I-I w-well," My voice was really shaky, seeing as I was suddenly very cold. A sharp wind blew by us, and my teeth-clanking became even more pominent. "I w-w-was j-j-ust," And for some reason, I started crying again. Maybe it was because I was tired, or maybe because I really didn't want to replay the day's events. I didn't know.

"Bella?" He was really serious. He really did care. "Bella, you know Jasper, right? He told me he knew you when I told him about you."

I nodded. I had no idea how this related to the subject, but oh well.

"Bella, it's really cold out here. Do you want me to drive you to my apartment? Jasper and my friend from the mall, Emmett, live there. My car is right there." He pointed two feet to his left.

Oh. He wanted to see if I knew Jasper so that that question didn't come across as completely awkward._ 'Hey, can I drive you to my apartment?' 'Sure, why not?'_ Cuz that wouldn't sound awkward _at all_.

I nodded. I couldn't find my voice.

He opened the passenger door to his car for me, and I got in. Then he did something really unexpected; he handed me the jacket he was wearing.

I blushed. "W-why are you g-g-giving t-this to me?"

"Bella, you look really cold, you're pale as snow and dripping wet. You need it more than I do."

"I-I can't t-take it! It's y-yours!" I struggled to get the sentence out.

"Bella." He said, completely serious again. "Put it on. You look sick." There it was again, nothing but worry for me apparent in his eyes.

So I took the jacket. There was no way I could win because I wasn't even sure if my sentence would come out intelligibly or not.

The jacket was so warm when I put it on. I almost didn't want to give it back. Ever_._

It also smelled so good. Like...I don't even know. It was really hard to explain.

He got in the driver's side, started the car, and the heat kicked in. I felt better almost instantly. God, it felt so good! It felt like I had gone hours without heat, which made me wonder... "Edward, what time is it?" I asked. At least the sentence came out, and I didn't even stutter.

"It's nine. Bella?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"How long have you been outside like that?" The question came out weird. Almost like he was afraid of what the answer would be. Huh. How odd.

The question made me think. The date was at seven...I was ready to kill myself at seven forty...I got up and left at seven fifty...and I wanted to throw my phone at the wall at about eight. Wow. I've been out here a lot longer than I thought. "An hour." I managed to choke out. Great. Now I was probably going to be sick for a couple of weeks, all thanks to Mike.

"That's about what I thought." He said with what looked like a guarded expression. "You really don't look to well, Bella. Why were you outside, walking in the rain with that?" he said, gesturing towards my dress and heels.

"Well, I was....well my whole day has been horrible and–" I stared crying again.

"Bella? What happened?" he asked, true curiosity burning behind his words. He was looking at the road ahead, but acting as if that wasn't what was really holding his attention.

"I– well, first,"I said through the tears, "Alice dragged me to the mall against my will, to g-get me ready for the blind date she was putting me on, again, unwillingly. T-then I get sick in Abercrombie, of all places, and I fall in front of you. After all that, Alice played Barbie-Bella until it w-was time for my date, and, as it turns out, he was a total jackass, s-so I left. When I got out, I realized that Alice drove me there, and that it would be hours before she picked me up, so I decided to call her. That was before I saw that my phone was dead, so I just started walking. This day is really – Just, – ugh, I don't even know. I just want curl up into a ball and wait for it to end!" The tears were falling freely now, probably coming out by the bucketful. I felt really bad about getting his jacket wet, but he didn't seem to mind.

Why was I telling him this? He was a total stranger! Okay, not really, since he knew Jasper, but close enough! I didn't even care anymore. It felt so good to just get it off my chest.

"...And that's when you ran into me." He finished by stating, not questioning.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't really fall into the 'really horrible day' category. That may just have been the only good thing that happened all day. I mean, now I'm warm, _and_ I have someone to talk to."

He seemed pretty surprised that I said that. _I_ was surprised that I said that. I blushed and quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of running into you, I'm sorry about the coffee. I'll have to buy you a new one..."

"Oh. Right. The coffee." He didn't sound like he cared at all.

" Why were you getting a coffee at nine o' clock at night, anyway?" I asked.

"Oh. Well, it was for Emmett. He needs to stay up late to finish...whatever it was that he needed to finish. Whatever it was, it is due tomorrow." He sounded about as interested as I was. And, honestly, I didn't really care.

Oh great. Now I felt bad. "So if he falls asleep and doesn't finish, it'll be my fault?"

"No, Bella! That's not what I meant, not at all! It's not even that important. If it was, then he would have finished it a week ago, when it was given to him. Besides, I think he can manage to stay up. I think he just wanted me out of the house because I was annoying the hell out of him."

I sighed. I didn't really have the strength to argue, so I gave up. At any rate, I was glad that Edward annoyed the hell out of Emmett. Who knows where I would be now if he didn't have an excuse to leave his house?

I leaned my head against the window of his car and closed my eyes, then I drifted into a dreamless sleep for the rest of the drive.

**A/N Hope you liked it! Sorry about not putting in another POV, there just wasn't any minor character I could do besides Mike, and I didn't want to be run over by an angry mob this early in the story :) And I'm doing Edward's POV next chapter, so I couldn't do him either. Sooooo...yeah.**

**Anywhoos, the song recommendation for this chapter is:**

— '**Your Arms Feel Like Home' – 3 Doors Down**

**By the way, all songs have a 'Twilight' reference. This one is pretty obvious.**

**luvs u all -- **

— **Jazz (Only Alice can call me 'Jazzy' :) hehe..lol isn't that right, Alice?)**

**Alice would be my friend, Paula, btw.**


	3. Peanuts and Coffee

**3. Peanuts and Coffee**

**Edward.**

Stupid Emmett. I mean, did he really have to throw that box of peanuts at my head? There were other ways of settling arguments without resorting to violence.

Apparently, Emmett didn't know this.

Well, it wasn't my fault that Jasper was out on a date with his girlfriend tonight and, because of that fact, I was bored to tears.

It wasn't my fault that whenever I'm bored I find enjoyment in other people's pain and annoyance.

It wasn't my fault that Emmett's 'concentration face' was the funniest thing I had ever seen.

Okay, maybe it was my fault that Emmett just happened to trip the one time he got up to get water.

And maybe it was my fault that I found out that throwing pencils at him brought out the funniest reactions possible. (like trowing peanuts at my head....)

_Maybe_ it was my fault. But I'm not admitting to anything.

I smiled to myself as I thought about my childish reaction but then I realized that I was in Starbucks, not my own little world. I quickly paid whoever gave me the coffee (Emmett forced me to get him one only after he used the peanuts as projectiles) and walked out of the store. I sighed again.

I forgot that it was raining.

And that's when the strangest thing happened; someone fell, right in front of me. Almost into me, if I was being completely honest with myself.

"Woah!" I said, as this took me completely by surprise. I ended up dropping the coffee. Great. I wonder what he'll chuck at my head this time.

Whoever it was who fell was obviously really weak, so I helped to stable her. "Are you oka—Bella?" She looked really bad. I almost didn't recognize her. What had happened to her?

"Edward, right?" Her voice was terrible. It was very weak; I could barely even hear her.

"Yeah." I told her. I just realized that I had never told her my name. So where did she hear it? Oh, right, Emmett, with is big mouth, screaming it out in the mall. Not like that mattered at all. "Bella, are you okay?"

She paused. "No, not really." She didn't _look_ that well either. In fact, she looked sick.

"What's wrong?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"I-I w-well," A sharp wind blew by and that seemed to have effected her speech. I had almost forgotten that it was raining. I, honestly, had more important things to think about.

"I w-w-was j-j-ust," Then she started crying. Mabe she didn't want to talk about it, but I really wanted to know what was bothering her, and standing outside Starbucks in the pouring rain wasn't really the best place to strike a conversation.

"Bella?" I asked to get her attention. She looked up at me, and I noticed that her eyes were such a deep shade of brown, like pools of melting chocolate. Not the best analogy, but it worked. They were beautiful, even with tears flowing out of them. But I was more concerned for her health, and the fact that we were standing out in the freezing cold didn't put my mind at ease. "Bella, you know Jasper, right? He told me he knew you when I told him about you." I didn't want to seem pushy, so I asked her that first.

_Flashback (sort of) :_

"Why aren't you leaving now?" I asked.

"So anxious to have me out of the house, jeez!" Jasper said with mock anger.

I just laughed at him. "No, just wondering. Aren't you supposed to get Alice at 6:50 ish? It's 6:45 now. You have a firm reputation of always being on time to uphold."

"Well, she told me that she needed time to help Bella get all ready for her date, so she told me to hang back until she calls. Bella can be pretty stubborn, so I don't expect her to be calling anytime soon."

"Hmm...that's interesting." I said, not really caring at all as I stared at the TV. Then something dawned on me; "Did you say Bella?"

"...yeah...why? You know her? I don't think Alice ever introduced you...."

"I met a Bella at the mall today..." I started to explain.

"Yeah. It was her. We were at the mall while I was waiting ever-so patiently for you and Emmett to rescue me...." He trailed of expectantly.

"Oh. Yeah. About that..."

"Yes that. You owe me. I had to go into Victoria's Secret."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Have fun?"

"Well." he was giving me the death glare now, and all it did was bring on another round of laughter. "Anyway. Brown hair, brown eyes...?" he said, quickly directing the conversation away from himself.

"That rings a bell." I said with a smile playing on my lips. Imagine that, meeting Jasper's-girlfriend's-best-friend.

We just sat there in comfortable silence until Jasper's phone went off.

'_I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world..."_

I looked at him with my eyebrow raised, giving him a look that, I'm guessing, probably questioned his sanity. Which was exactly what I was doing; questioning his sanity.

He flushed with anger. "Emmett....he's going to get it twice as bad now..."

Of course. Emmett was the answer to all problems.

Why Jasper's ringtone was 'Barbie Girl'? Emmett.

Why the fridge was mysteriously empty? Emmett.

Global Warming? Emmett.

Possible alien abductions? I could blame Emmett for that, too.

You name it, and I can blame it on Emmett.

"I'm going now..." Jasper said on his way out the door, trying, and failing, to keep the hint of frustration out of his voice. I could tell that he was currently plotting Emmett's downfall. The thought alone made me smile, and I spent the majority of the next hour plotting my own little scheme to get Emmett...which ended...well, you know, the peanuts and all that...

_(End sort-of flashback)_

She nodded. She looked really confused for some reason....oh, right. I forgot how random that question would sound to anyone who couldn't read my mind. I figured I should explain myself; "Bella, it's really cold out here. Do you want me to drive you to my apartment? Jasper and my friend from the mall, Emmett, live there. My car is right there." I pointed to my left, where I parked my silver Volvo S60R. This was a good car and all, but nothing like Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, but I don't want to stand out like a sore thumb, which, overall, means 'no Vanquish'.

She nodded again.

I opened the passenger door for her, making a motion for her to get in. She got in, and I couldn't help but notice how frail she looked. I had to do something...

"W-why are you g-g-giving t-this to me?" She said as I handed her my jacket. She blushed, and I was happy that some color was added to her skin. It looked as if any color besides white has been long since removed from her cheeks. It definitely made her look more alive.

"Bella, you look really cold, you're pale as snow and dripping wet. You need it more than I do." Which was true.

"I-I can't t-take it! It's y-yours!" It seemed as if it took a lot of effort for her to say this. Why couldn't she just take it?

"Bella." _I swear to god, if you don't take this jacket right now, I will force it onto you. _No, that wouldn't help my cause at all. I'll take a different approach; "Put it on. You look sick." _Just take it. Please. The longer you resist, the sicker you'll get. I don't want that to happen..._

She looked at me with an expression of both shock and confusion on her face for a moment before she took the jacket. _At least she came to her senses..., _I thought as I made my way to the drivers side of the car.

Once I started the car, she looked immediately relieved. It took me a second to realize that it was because the heater had warmed up the car, and, invariably, everything in the car, including her. Huh. I never paid it any mind. I never realized it would ever have such an impact on one person, but apparently it can.

"Edward, what time is it?_" _She asked after a moment or two. Her voice sounded so much better, a significant difference could be heard between her what it is now and what it was five minutes ago.

"It's nine." As I told her this, a question came to mind, and I almost didn't want to say it, for fear of the answer, but I had to know. It was of the utmost importance right now, so I didn't have any other choice. "Bella?"

"Yes?"

"How long have you been outside like that?" She looked surprised for a second, then she went into a state of deep concentration.

After a minute or so of silence, I saw (in my peripheral vision, of course. I had my eyes on the road.) an expression of shock cross her face. Oh no. I was not going to like this answer.

"An hour." she said through a tight throat. She must not have noticed the time passing by, or she wouldn't have been so genuinely surprised. I should have figured it would be that long, judging by her appearance. _It could have always been worse..., _I tried to think optimistically, and failed.

"That's about what I thought. You really don't look to well, Bella. Why were you outside, walking in the rain with that?" I asked, motioning towards her ensemble that was clearly not fit for an evening like tonight.

"Well, I was....well my whole day has been horrible and–"

Then she started crying. _Again._

_Good job, Eddie. You made her cry. Twice. All in a matter of fifteen minutes. _

"Bella? What happened?" I asked her. I had to try my hardest not to crash into anything now. I didn't really care about the road, all I wanted to do was look into her eyes and figure out what was wrong.

"I– well, first," She tried to get out, "Alice dragged me to the mall against my will, to g-get me ready for the blind date she was putting me on, again, unwillingly. T-then I get sick in Abercrombie, of all places, and I fall in front of you. After all that, Alice played Barbie-Bella until it w-was time for my date, and, as it turns out, he was a total loser, so I left. When I got out, I realized that Alice drove me there, and that it would be hours before she picked me up, so I decided to call her. That was before I saw that my phone was dead, so I just started walking. This day is really – Just, – ugh, I don't even know. I just want curl up into a ball and wait for it to end!" She was crying incessantly now. I wish there was some way I could help her, console her in some way, but I couldn't think of anything. I felt really bad, but I didn't want to let that show. She didn't seem like the type of person that begged for pity, but I had no idea what type of person she was.

"...And that's when you ran into me." I finished for her.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't really fall into the 'really horrible day' category. That may just have been the only good thing that happened all day. I mean, now I'm warm, _and_ I have someone to talk to." This took me by surprise. I didn't think I had done anything to help her at all, but apparently I did. That made my outlook of the whole situation just a little brighter. At least she was happier now than before.

"Speaking of running into you, I'm sorry about the coffee. I'll have to buy you a new one..." She said, clearly embarrassed that she voiced her last comment.

"Oh. Right. The coffee." Let's be honest; that wasn't exactly what was holding my attention at the moment.

"Why were you getting a coffee at nine o' clock at night, anyway?" Ha! She didn't care either. She was just directing the topic away from herself.

I decided to humor her; I didn't want the conversation to bother her, and this topic couldn't hurt, could it? I mean, it was about coffee.

"Oh. Well, it was for Emmett. He needs to stay up late to finish...whatever it was that he needed to finish. Whatever it was, it is due tomorrow." There was no inflection in my voice. Oh well. It just reflected my actual attitude towards the subject.

She looked a little upset for some unfathomable reason. "So if he falls asleep and doesn't finish, it'll be my fault?"

"No, Bella! That's not what I meant, not at all!" More inflection this time. I was wrong; apparently this topic of conversation _could_ hurt. It seems Bella goes against all my assumptions. I never know what to expect from her, but I certainly didn't expect _that. _It's not even that important. If it was, then he would have finished it a week ago, when it was given to him. Besides, I think he can manage to stay up. I think he just wanted me out of the house because I was annoying him."This would be a bad time to mention the peanuts making contact with my head, so I left that part out.

I heard her sigh, and I figured she was done with small talk, so I never brought up a random tidbit of trivial information that most people would use to fill uncomfortable silences. Those were really stupid anyway. "So, where are you from?" _Here. Duh. _"What brings you here?" _We are in Starbucks. Can't you tell I'm here to bake a flipping cake?_ That would be a little rude, so I would normally answer with the, quite obvious, "Coffee." and the newly popular, "Did you hear about Obama?" Of _course_ I've heard about Obama. Everyone has! So why bother asking? I swear, some people are just idiots_._

The conversation in my head turned into a list of people that I think should get hit by buses because of the sheer idiocy of their , I know, but in the confines of my own mind I can think like the five-year-old that Emmett is often perceived as.

"_Rose, stop beating Alice with that ham! She'll let you wear her cowboy hat if you ask __nicely__..." _She trailed off. I stared incredulously at the road ahead for about three minutes before I realized that she was asleep. It should have been the first thing that came to mind, seeing as how sleep-talking isn't that uncommon, but I have to admit that, for a second, I thought she was actually talking to me. I shudder at the thought of her having symptoms of delirium, so I quickly dismissed that from my mind.

She didn't say another word for the rest of the ride, so I just sat there quietly, wondering what she could possibly be dreaming about.

**Emmett.**

Focus. _Focus...._

_snap!_

Great. That was the third pencil in 10 minutes I have broken.

I threw my pencil, and it hit the wall. Making a dent where it made contact. "STUPID WALL! Getting in the way of my pencil. The nerve!!"

The sad part was, I was genuinely angry.

...at the wall.

...for _magically_ appearing out of _nowhere, _and _stepping _in the path of my pencil that I threw.

Oh gosh.

This was going to be a _long_ night.

**--**

**Yeah, I know its only a redo of the last chapter from Edward's view, but I didn't know that it would be this long. Next chapter will be Edward's POV, too, so don't worry, you still get your fill of his awesometasticalness.**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, life just gets in the way sometimes. Anyhoos, song(s) for this chapter are:**

**-Gotta Be Somebody – Nickleback (I know some people don't like them, but just give the song a chance. I really like it.)**

**-Candle (Sick and Tired) – The White Tie Affair**

**Oh, and I edited out most of the language in the other chapters. I went back to re-read it and realized how much it mirrored my day, so I took nearly all of them out.**

**....And that's pretty much it.**

**--**

**Yay or Nay? Hit or Miss?**

–**Jazz**


	4. Infomercials, Murder, and Rape, Oh My!

**4. Infomercials, Murder, and Rape, Oh My!**

**Edward.**

When we got to my apartment building, I was faced with the difficult dilemma of how I was going to get Bella upstairs. I wasn't going to wake her up, so that idea was out. I contemplated calling Emmett to help me for all of...5 seconds before I labeled that as a "Bad Idea". He would either; a) say something inappropriate, b) do something stupid in his frustrated state, such as drop her and wake her up or, c) all of the above. I was definitely not going to risk that happening. I had a feeling that the former would be happening no matter what I choose, though.

I walked over to her side of my car to make my attempt get Bella out without injuring myself, or, worst case scenario, injuring _her._ Yes, that would definitely do nothing to help her already-splendiferous-day. **(Did you know that's actually a word?! I typed out something close to it, then spell check told me that that's how you spell it, so I went to look on dictionary(dot)com, And, POOF! It's a word!!)**

As I carefully pulled her out of the car, I became aware of how light she was. It was disconcerting, but it made the whole door-situation have a much brighter outlook. If she was this light, I wouldn't have to worry about possibly dropping her while I fiddled with the lock on the door, which apparently hated me. It just never wanted to open. EVER. Maybe it would spare me today. _Hopefully_ it would spare me today.

Thankfully, no one was harmed and/or injured as I kicked the door to the Volvo shut as quietly as I could behind me. Once had I started walking, I realized that, without my jacket, it was freezing out. But my jacket was going to a much better cause right now, and I couldn't afford to be selfish when Bella had suffered so much today. Surely if she could walk miles in the freezing rain, I could go a few minutes without a jacket. I couldn't help noticing, though, that, even with the jacket on, I could still feel how cold her skin was through the multiple layers of fabric, and so, for both our causes, I sprinted as fast as I possibly could with her in my arms to the door.

I tried to fit the key into the lock, but it was being very stubborn. It just didn't want to go in, but I was determined. I kept trying to force it in, failing each time, when I finally figured out that I was using the wrong key. Oh wonderful. Why do I keep doing that?

_Cuz you're a moron._

Shut up! Stupid brain. It always just has to be right.

Oh great. Now I'm having a mental conversation with myself. That's a new one.

So, anyway, I tried my other key, and, poof! Like magic, the door opened.

Humph. Common sense could seriously be a buttface sometimes.

I sighed, but started walking up the first flight of stairs. Our apartment was on the fourth floor, and at this rate it wouldn't take too long to get to the room, which was necessary, as I could feel Bella starting to shiver in my arms.

When I was nearing the third flight, I heard something that I assumed everyone else in the complex could also hear; Emmett's voice.

"_STUPID WALL!!" _Well, it looked like I wasn't the only one having trouble with inanimate objects this evening. _"Getting in the way of my pencil! The nerve!!" _That, however, was a new one, and very interesting, even for Emmett.

I stifled my laughter as I realized that he was so frustrated with this stupid paper that he inadvertently took it out on the wall. I felt sorry for the other people in the building who _were_ sleeping.

I glanced down, concerned for the person in the building sleeping in my arms. Bella must have been out cold. I didn't even feel her stir at the sound of Emmett's booming voice. Definitely a first.

By then I had reached the door, but I didn't really feel like messing with the keys and the locks again, so I just kicked the door (hoping that Emmett took it for a very loud knock) and said, "Emmett, open up!"

Obviously, he figured out that it was me, cuz his response was; "DO IT YOURSELF!"

I almost laughed at that little comment, seeing as how he was still frustrated from the pencil-thing. He was probably going to give himself a hemorrhage. Much to my and Jasper's delight.

"Emmett. Open. The. Door. It's kind of important." I said as calmly as I could manage, trying to control myself.

"I AM A LITTLE B-"

"Open the flipping door before I kick it down and make you pay for it!" I yelled at him, throwing control out the window.

"Scary. OOOoooo...seriously. I need to pay for a _door._ The horror!"

"Just do it!"

"Oh, fine, but stop being so pushy, Eddie." Why? _Why _does he feel the need to call me that?!

He opened the door, and a look of both shock and the expression we (Jasper and I) had labeled the, "Emmett's-about-to-make-a-comment-that-we-really-don't-want-to-hear" face. And that's exactly what I got. A comment that I really didn't want to hear. The look doesn't lie.

"Well, lookie here, Eddie brought a girl home!" 'Haha. Just freaking _hilarious.'_ I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"Not in the way you think." I said as I ran to my room to put Bella on my bed so she could sleep. I pulled back the covers before gently placing her down and tucking her in. Her hair spilled forward to cover her face, and without really thinking about it, I brushed in back behind her ear. I quietly closed the door behind me before walking back to face Emmett.

I should have walked slower, as he had _this _wonderful comment waiting for me:

"Wait...she's that girl from the mall right?"

Oh great. There was no way to escape this, so I just nodded. A wide grin spread across his face at that particular piece of news.

"OOOooohhh!!! Scandalous!" He said with _the most _ridiculous expression on his face.

"You are such a girl, you know that? And, in any case, it's not 'scandalous' at all. I met her in the mall, yes, but then I saw her on the street and, as it turns out, she was walking for an hour out _there_" –I pointed towards the window overlooking the parking lot, where it was still raining at almost sub-zero temperatures– "and she had nowhere else to go, so I brought her here."

And technically, that was what had happened, albeit in a nutshell. I wasn't going to just _tell_ him everything she vented when she opened up. I'm no girl like Emmett, but wouldn't that be betraying her trust? I refuse to be responsible for that.

"Suuuuuuurrrrree....mmhmm." He said skeptically. He sounded as if he was prying, and there is nothing more annoying than that. It kind of reminded me of that absurd girl from high school...what was her name again? Oh yeah. Jessica Stanley. That was it.

"No, really." I was going to explain myself further, but when Emmett gave me yet another incredulous look, I quickly changed my approach. "Did I mention that she is Alice's best friend? I was just helping her out."

His mouth fell to the floor in mock horror. "OH MY GOD, YOU–"

"No. I didn't."

"BUT YOU–"

"SHUT UP!" I whispered angrily "You're going to wake her up, you idiot! Plus, what does it matter? I'm just helping her out because she had nowhere else to go! You don't have to jump to conclusions! I repeat: you are such a girl! Seriously! You're going to be that old guy at the nursing home that gossips more than the old women do about their grandchildren!"

"You know what Eddie? Shut up." He said, flinging the nearest pillow at me, which I agilely dodged. He sighed, clearly disappointed that he missed. "Ugh....I have to get back to that stupid assignment...If I don't finish it, bad things will happen..." He had an unmistakable grimace on his face now. He must really not like this assignment.

"What do you have to do?"

"I have to write this stupid story about whatever I want, but it's just so hard when they're not _telling_ you what to write!" He said while whining like a spoiled child.

"Your logic is impeccable, Emmett, honestly." I inquired sarcastically. "What do you have so far?"

"Well, I was thinking about doing this story about these 2 people who fall in love with each other, but it's forbidden because both of their families hate each other. Good, huh?"

I honestly tried my hardest to keep from laughing, but I just couldn't help myself. "Emmet, I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

"Oh? And why not?" He said while looking at me crossly.

"Because," I said through my laughter. "It would be plagiarism. That idea's already been taken."

"By who?!" He said like he honestly didn't know.

"Shakspere. That's _Romeo & Juliet_, Emmett."

"Well then...I'll just make it more modern."

"_West Side Story_." I told him. I heard him curse under his breath, but decided it would be best if I ignored it. "Why don't you do something simple?"

"Like...?" He pressed. Great. I knew where this was going. I was going to end up doing it for him in the end, like always.

"Oh no. I'll give you some ideas, but _you_ are writing it yourself."

He rolled his eyes. The nerve. "Of _course_ I will. Don't I always?" Big-fat-flipping-NO.

"No, you may be surprised to hear this, but actually you don't. It's either me or Jasper that does it for you. We might as well be the ones going up to get your diploma when" Wrong word. "_If _you graduate."

"Well, gee, thanks, your undying support is genuinely appreciated. Again, thanks."

"I do hope you realize that I don't _have_ to give you any ideas." That'll shut him up.

"Sorry." Ha. He was so predictable!

"Sure. Anyway, what about...." I was going to say something, but he cut me off.

"Nothing too long. I don't want to be up all night. Nothing to boring, either."

"I'm giving you the ideas. You get what you get. So, as I was saying..." I thought about things that might grab Emmett's attention enough to give me some peace and quiet for a while. "...How about this raid that takes place in the future of America where this guy comes in and whips out most of the race with this super-machine gun except for this one family of people who try and kill the guy but in the end everyone dies." Not exactly my forte, but maybe Emmett would enjoy it.

"GENIUS!" He said with the stupid grin on his face again as he turned back to the screen to start typing.

"What? No 'thank you'?" I said sarcastically as I sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Pfft. Like Emmett would ever say 'thank you' without someone giving him the incentive to do so first.

"Thank you Eddie, so very m–"

"Stop." He sure did know how to annoy people, didn't he? He had practically made it an art form.

"Okay." He turned back around and ignored me completely for about an hour.

********

Grrr. I hated this time of the day.

The time where absolutely _nothing_ is on TV except lifetime movies and those annoying infomercials that no one watches. The ones that I am currently being forced to watch, since I avoid lifetime like the plague. Yes, those.

"_DO YOU HAVE THIS?!?! WELL, IF NOT, YOU NEED TO GET ONE!!! IT WILL INCREASE YOUR DAILY WORK OUTPUT BY 50 PERCENT!!! CALL THE NUMBER AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN __RIGHT NOW__AND GET...._blah blah blah." Gah. When did I become such a masochist? Seriously, sticking needles in my eyes would be less painful than listening to Billy Mays go on and on about something-or-other-that-no-one-really-needs. **(Anyone ever heard of him? He really gets on my nerves.)**

It was about 1 in the morning at this point, and Emmett had fallen asleep at the desk, so I couldn't even annoy him.

Jasper was probably still with Alice and...._Alice! _Oh great. They're probably looking for Bella! And, when they don't find her, they will probably assume the worst. Rape, murder.... Oh Joy. Wonderful. WHY DIDN'T I THINK TO CALL HER EARLIER?!?!

_Stupid, stupid, __STUPID!!_

I mentally kicked myself for being such an idiot.

I jumped from the couch and grabbed my cell phone off the ledge as fast as humanly possible. I began searching through the contacts, knowing the Jasper was in there somewhere. _Yes! Found it! _I though victoriously as I pressed 'talk' and put the phone to my ear.

After the third ring, I heard a frustrated voice on the other end answer me. _"Hello?"_

"Jasper? Yeah, we have to talk ab–"

"_Hey, Edward? Hurry up, I need to tell you something." _Why did everyone feel the need to cut me off tonight?!

"Would the 'something' that you need to talk about involve Bella?" I said all in one breath. I sounded like I had just gotten punched in the stomach.

There was a brief pause, then he continued. "Yeah....How did you know?"

"Well, I was getting some coffee and I saw Bella walking and she looked sick so I asked her if she wanted to come back to our apartment and she said sure." _Breathe. _"...So I drove her here but she fell asleep in the car, so I carried her up to the room and let her sleep on my bed and I was just watching some infomercials when I remembered that I didn't tell you guys and so I ran to the phone and now here I am." _BREATHE!! _My lungs screamed. Ow. Never again will I try and say so much without coming up for air.

"_Oh!"_ He sounded so relieved. I felt really bad now. If I had told them as soon as I got back, they wouldn't've had to go through that. It's all my fault. _"Let me just tell Alice! Hold on!" _I heard that his voice was more distant, but still caked with relief. _"Alice, Bella's at my apartment!"_ Then a half angry/ half relieved high-pitched voice. _"WHY?!""I'll tell you on the way there, k?" _He said to Alice, I assumed. _"Okay, I'm back. We'll be right over there, alright?"_

"Sure."

"_Wait...is she okay?" _

"Yeah. She might be sick, though. I'm not really sure, but other than that, she's fine." I told him, more calmly this time.

"_Oh. Good!"_ I could almost hear him smile on the other end at this news. _"Be right there!"__Click._

I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that her friends knew that she was okay. They'd be here soon, and they'd know what to do. I didn't.

At that exact moment I heard a very strange noise; A loud _thud_, something that sounded like, "Holy–!" and a faintly muffled profanity. By elimination (It wasn't me or Emmett) I knew it was Bella who said it.

I got up from the couch (yet again) and sprinted to my room to see what happened. As I walked in, I didn't see her on the bed. Huh. Strange... "Bella?" I called for her, confused.

I heard her groan before I saw some ruffling of sheets coming from the opposite side of the bed, on the floor. "Help?" I heard her say as she gave up on her futile struggles to get up.

I walked around the bed to where she was. I was planning to help her up, but when I saw what position she was in, I had to try and not burst out laughing first. "Bella, should I ask how you managed that?" She was impossibly wound up in the sheets. It was like those games I used to play in middle school where they made you stand in a circle and link hands with two different people across the circle and then try and untangle all the arms without letting go of each other's hands. **(Ever play that? I advise you not to. It took my group about an hour to accomplish that**.)

She sighed, but explained anyway. "I guess I rolled off the bed and landed like this," she gestured toward herself as best she could in her current state. "Help, please?" She said with a pleading look on her face.

I chuckled, but helped untangle her.

When she was free of the sheets, I held out my hand to her to help her up. She took it, and when she did, I couldn't help but notice the shock that ran through my body. It didn't feel wrong, so I welcomed the feeling.

"You seem to fall a lot." I inquired, reluctantly releasing her hand.

"You have _no_ idea." I heard her mumble. "What time is it?" She asked more intelligibly.

"I don't know...I think 1:30-ish, give or take."

"In the _morning?_" I heard disbelief seep into her tone as she took this in. I nodded and her face fell. I'm not sure what was so funny about it, but I couldn't help but laugh at her expression. "Wonderful. Well, I'm awake now, so what is there to do at 1 in the morning here?"

I thought about for a second, but came up blank. "...Not much. But Alice and Jasper on their way here, so you don't have to look for something very time consuming....Hey, are you alright?" I asked, suddenly remembering why she was here in the first place.

She looked confused at my sudden change of topic, but she answer anyway. "I...guess so. My head hurts, but that could just be from the fall. Other than that, yeah, I think I'm fine." My eyes narrowed a bit at the word '_think_'. She seemed fine now, and that's all that really matters. "Alice and Jasper? This late?"

"Well...Jasper lives here," I started to explain, but gave up on that plan-of-attack. "And also because I forgot to call and tell them that you were here until about 5 minutes ago." I admitted sheepishly.

"Ugh...I completely forgot that she would be picking me up...and I didn't even think about what would happen when she didn't find me at the restaurant!" She turned to look at me gratefully and said, "Thanks. For...everything, I guess."

I wasn't really expecting that. "Uh...no problem, really. I probably could have called them a bit sooner, though...."

"Eh, that doesn't matter much. I'm sure Alice will've forgotten it by tomorrow." She shrugged it off.

"I highly doubt that. You technically went missing 5 or so hours ago. No doubt they've called a search party by now."

She sighed. "Well, I guess you're right. Alice _is_ prone to overreaction in that way."

"Overreaction?" Was she serious? "Bella, if Alice went missing for 5 hours, wouldn't you call a search party, too?"

"Oh...well, uh...I guess I never really thought about it that way...but I would, of course."

"That's how Alice probably felt."

"Yeah...you're right." She paused for a second, probably thinking about something. "So when are they gonna get here?"

I thought it over for a second. "I'm not exactly sure. They only called a little while ago, but god knows how far away they were. They could have been all the way on the other side of state looking for you, you know."

"I don't think they'd go that far. Not for me at least..." She was looking down, suddenly interested in her shoes.

"Excuse me?" Did she seriously just say that?

"Nothing." She said quickly, as to dismiss the topic. I also noticed that she blushed, for what reason I'm not sure of. "So...is there anything to do until they get here?" I was still shocked by what she had said, but I decided to let it go.

"Umm....we don't have much, but..." I racked my brain, trying to think of anything that would sound appropriate for 1:30 in the morning but nothing came.

"Do you have anything I can read to pass the time?" She asked.

"Yeah. I have a lot of books, if you want to read those." Her eyes lit up at that, and I couldn't help but smile in response.

"Do you happen to have _'Wuthering Heights'_?"

I hadn't really expected her to pick something along the lines of a classic, but I guess I should have. "Yeah. Here," I said handing her the book after I had located it in my shelves. "Wait, what part are you at? I can find it for you." I offered.

"No, that's fine. I've already read it, quite a few times actually, so I'm just going to start from the beginning again." Wow. She was _re_-reading it. I definitely didn't expect that.

"Oh. Okay then. You can go out into the other room and read on the couch if you want."

"Sure. Thanks, again." She smiled, and walked out into the other room with no difficulty, but that simply could have been because it was just down the hall. I was getting the impression Bella was very clumsy. As she sat, she must have seen Emmett at his desk using his keyboard as a pillow, because her face looked surprised, slowly turning to incredulous. After a moment or so, she looked up at me and asked; "What...who...why is he...?"

I smiled at her comment. Emmett really was in an odd position, so I wasn't surprised that she had asked, but the way she phrased the question was comical. "That's Emmett. He just fell asleep, that's all."

She seemed to be deep in thought before she responded with; "See. I told you that if he fell asleep it would be my fault."

I rolled my eyes at that. So she remembered. "No, he finished, I checked, I just don't think he had enough energy to get to his room."

"Well, if I hadn't spilled what should have been his coffee, he would have had enough energy to get back to his room," she retorted.

I didn't really have a comeback for that. She beat me. "Fine. You win this time."

"I didn't realize we were playing anything." She said with a smirk.

"Touche." I said, returning her smile.

**BN (beta reader's note): If ThePurpleDragonOfAmazingness keeps this in, I would just like to apologize, as it is my fault this is getting up so late. Be sure to thank Jazz for updating and review to tell her how awesome she is. I hardly had anything to do, cause she is an amazing writer like that**

**--**

**AN: my Beta (sekhmetkitty002) is just amazing. She just is.**

**THREE songs this chap!**

**A Twist Is My Story -- Secondhand Serenade**

**Who I am Hates Who I've Been -- Relient K**

**When The Day Met THe Night -- Panic! At The Disco**

**All of these songs can be found on the second playlist I posted on my profile, so please go check it out.**

**--Jazz**


	5. A Very Interesting Night

**5. A Very Interesting Night**

**Bella.**

I was in the zone. _The_ zone. See, I have this thing that, when I read, after a couple of minutes, absolutely nothing else matters. I stare at the page and read, and I hear nothing. This is the zone.

Only a few things can break my 'zone' state. Actually, only one thing can.

I was just getting to the part where Catherine died when I heard that one thing.

"OMIGOSH, BELLA, YOU'RE ALRIGHT!!!!" Alice.

She ran over to the couch and gave me a bigger hug than I even thought possible for a person of her size. "Alice– can't– breathe!" I gasped after a minute or so of her squeezing the life out of me.

"Oh well." Of course Alice would say that. "Deal with it! I assumed that you were murdered or kidnaped, just to find out that nothing happened to you, and you expect me to just let you go?!"

"YES!" I tried to get out. "Alice, you're– crushing– me! Get– off!" I said, getting as much breath as possible before saying each word.

"Alice, her face is turning blue...I really think you should let her go!" I heard Edward say.

"YOU KNOW WHAT?! Fine. I will. You are all just dream-pee-er-on-ers."

I exhaled sharply, then took in the biggest breath I had ever taken in my life, rejoicing in the fact that I could inhale again. I honestly didn't think I would ever be able to use that luxury again.

When I was sure Alice and Jasper weren't looking, I turned to Edward and mouthed, 'Thank you, again' and he just smiled and nodded. I returned his smile, just before I was assaulted by Alice again.

"Bella, are you okay? What happened? How did you find Edw–" She was cut off by a loud _bang_ that occurred about 10 feet away from where we were.

We all turned to see what it was, only to find that Emmett had tipped his chair until it fell on it's side, taking him with it. He sat upright when we looked at him, but he looked around, confused, with a dazed look in his eyes. "Wha....heyeveryone....wazgoinon...?"

Alice had lost interest in him. I know this because she turned back to me a bombarded me with questions, yet again. "Anyways, how did you find Edward? Why where you walking? Why didn't you call? How did—"

"ALICE! Chill. Okay, first, that guy, Mike? I want him to go die. Worst. Date. EVER. No competition."

"Awww...I'm so sorry! I didn't realize he would be that bad!" She tried to defend herself.

"It's fine. I forgive you. It's all good, Alice. Anyway, I'm fine. I was walking because the date was horrible and I wanted to leave after the first 40 minutes, but you drove me there, so I had no form of transportation."

"You should have ca– "

"My phone died. So I was out walking for about an hour when I ran into Edward and spilled the coffee he had gotten...he drove me here because he recognized me from the mall today. That's about it."

Alice then pulled me into a lighter hug, much to my liking, and she started to try and explain herself; "Bella! If I had any idea it would turn out like that, I would have never put you through that! I feel so bad now, you have NO idea!" She let me go so that she could look in my eyes, which were pleading and glimmering with sadness at the nights events.

She didn't have to do that. Didn't I already forgive her? _She must feel really bad_, I thought. Great. Now I feel guilty. "Alice, it's okay. I don't mind, really. At least it all turned out fine, right? Isn't that all that matters?" I said, trying to get Alice to drop it; she hadn't done anything. She couldn't have planned this, that would be impossible! So what was she apologizing for?

"Yeah, but if Edward wasn't there, what would you have done then?" She continued. Was she _trying_ to blame herself? That really doesn't sound like something she would do...

"I don't know. I guess it was just good that he was, though."

"You got that right!" She said before getting up and swiftly dancing over to pull Edward into a hug, all the while chanting, "Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much!' like a mantra. He clearly didn't look comfortable. I sent him an apologetic glance, hopefully getting across that this was normal. Alice often changed topics at the drop of a hat like this. Her ADD doesn't allow her to remain on one topic very long.

When she finally let him go, he exhaled just as sharply as I had. "For what?" He managed to get out.

"For saving Bella, silly!" She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I could have sworn I saw his cheeks get a little redder, but it was probably just my mind playing tricks on me. "Oh, uh, it was...no problem, really."

Alice slipped him a knowing glance, at what I don't know, but Alice just does these things. I gave up trying to figure out what they meant a while ago.

"No, seriously, thanks." I managed to get in. I just wanted to let him know that I really did appreciate it, just in case my other 500 attempts to let him know that it wasn't just a "no problem" situation were being ignored.

"It's no big d–" he stared.

"Yes, Edward, it is a big deal." Alice told him. "Get that through you thick skull. It. Is. A. Major. Deal." she said, play smacking him on the back of the head.

"Ow! That really hurt." he mocked her by feigning pain.

She didn't seem to notice the 'mocking' part. "You deserved it."

"Oh? How so?" he raised one eyebrow at her.

"Well, you save Bella and bring her home and–"

"And that deserves a smack on the head?" he finished with a sarcastic smile. I let a giggle escape from my lips; I liked how he could turn a fight with Alice, even just a playful one, in his favor with one line. I could never do that. Plus, in context, it really did sound absurd.

His eyes darted to my face and he smiled, just to be caught by Alice's furious gaze. I could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. She did _not_ like being one up-ed, and I could tell.

"You know, Eddie? I was not done. I was going to say that–"

"Yes?" He knew he was getting on her nerves now. Apparently, that thought made a huge grin spread across his face. It was pretty funny to watch; they went at it like brother and sister.

"STOP CUTTING ME OFF!" She fumed. I laughed this time, despite my efforts to hold it in. I had never seen her so flustered!

Edward laughed with me, but Jasper valued his life to much to tag along. Emmett had fallen asleep again. How he managed to do that, I don't know.

Alice locked eyes with me, and demanded, rather harshly; "What's so funny?!"

"I-I'm sorry!" I said through my fit of giggles. "I've just never seen you so frustrated before!" I explained.

"Well, don't plan on ever seeing it again." she said, just slightly more calm than before.

"I'm gonna go...make some coffee while I calm down." Alice said as she stole out of the room.

"She does realize that it's 3 in the morning, right?" Edward whispered in my ear.

I jumped back and blushed when I saw it was just him. The proximity startled me; I had no idea he had gotten that close.

"Did I frighten you?" he asked while he chuckled at my response.

"Yeah. Kinda. Just a little. Not much."

"Sure." he said with the same playful smile on. "I just didn't want to wake Jasper up." He nudged his thumb in his general direction, which was on the reclining chair, near the window on the far side of the room.

"Oh." so he wasn't laughing because he valued his life...he wasn't laughing because he fell asleep. That explained everything. I don't think that even Jasper would pass up the chance to laugh at something as funny as Alice when she's mad.

"So, _does_ she know that it's a little late to make coffee?" he restated. He didn't seem annoyed at all that I ignored his initial question.

"Oh yeah. The time of day isn't really a factor at all when it comes to her and caffeine." I told him truthfully. It was true. She could name every member of the staff at both the local and non-local 'Starbucks' cafes.

"That makes sense." he chuckled as Alice came right back in.

"You realize that I can hear you, right?" she seemed slightly annoyed at what she heard. Weird. I didn't see anything wrong with the conversation.

"You realize I don't care, right?" he retorted. There he goes again! Why couldn't I do that?

"You know what?" she threatened.

"What?" he challenged, the same wide grin on his face

She raised her eyebrow, giving him a questioning glance, and she looked as if she was saying, 'You-did-not-just-go-there.'

He glanced back smugly, as if replying, 'Yeah-I-went-there. And-I-bought-property.' **(Sorry. I had to put that. My friend said that to a guy in Social Studies the other day, so it's all stuck in my head. Now it's out.)**

She walked back out of the room, clearly not happy with the turnout of this instalment of 'Alice vs. Edward'. She was visibly fuming now, and she didn't bother to hide it.

"Do you find personal enjoyment in destroying your life?" I whispered to him when she left.

He jumped a little, and I couldn't help but snicker a little bit. "Did I frighten you?" I quoted him mockingly.

"Yeah. Kinda. Just a little. Not much." he quoted me while smiling at my comment. "But I don't understand the question."

"Well, Alice is going to set out to make your life miserable now, and I wanted to know if you enjoyed destroying said life." I elaborated, still whispering so that she couldn't hear.

"Ah." he said as he thought. After about ten seconds, he looked at me with the smirk again and replied; "Yes. I enjoy it a lot. Though I don't think I am destroying my life." he added afterward.

"I beg to differ." I warned him.

"Naa. I do that every time I see her. I'm still alive, right?"

"Clearly." I joked. "I wish I could do that."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Annoy her like that!" I told him. "That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!"

"Really?" I nodded. "Well, then watch this." he said, just as Alice popped back in, carrying coffee.

"Hey, Alice?" he began conversationally.

"Yes? Are you ready to apologize?" she wondered skeptically.

"Not a chance." he smiled, but it was different. It lit up his whole face. I was going to enjoy this. "Quite the opposite, in fact; I just wanted to point out to you that Jasper is sleeping."

She paused, as did I. I had no idea where this was going. "...And?" She finally pressed.

"I thought that may have been bad news for you. Seeing as how you can't do anything _with_ him tonight, and all." His eyes were shimmering with glee, and I'm pretty sure mine were, too.

Alice's face went from pale to red in a record 0.2 seconds. "You...I...YOU!" She accused, or half-accused, seeing as nothing really came out intelligibly.

Edward quickly jumped up from the couch and ran around, leaving me on the couch, yet again overcome by a fit of giggles.

Alice ran for him and, seeing as it is a small area and Alice is very fast, she caught up with him, jumped on his back, and proceeded to beat him with a book she had picked up while she ran.

He laughed joyously, clearly not in pain. He toppled to the floor with Alice and he continued to laugh, even though she was still hitting him. I was still laughing at the absurdity of what I had just seen, and I'm pretty sure my face was red just from laughing so hard.

Edward and I just kept going until Alice finally gave up on the beat-Edward-to-death approach and stood up to scold us. I, however, had other plans. I could not stop laughing, and I didn't know why. I just was.

Alice was still red faced, and her gaze was switching from me to Edward, who apparently couldn't stop laughing either. Her face just made me laugh harder, and before I knew it, I had rolled off the couch and landed on the floor with an 'Oof!'.

This made Alice crack. She broke out into uncontrollable laughter, managed only by holding her gut for stability.

We continued laughing for several minutes, none of us able to shift our positions; I was still on the floor, unable to get up, as was Edward, and Alice was standing, but barely. She had her hands on her knees and she was breathlessly laughing. We calmed down eventually, and then began talking.

"That was funny." I stated when the laughter died out. I was sure that my face was still red, and my smile was plastered to it.

"I agree," Edward said, a smile just as big as mine and Alice's was on his face as well.

"Not the first part, but Bella falling of the couch was enjoyable to watch." Alice added.

"Oh, lighten up," Edward tried to reason with her, "it was all in good fun."

"Yeah." she half-heartedly snapped. "Fun for _you._"

"Exactly." he said with the smirk on his face.

"Ha. Very funny."

"It was." he continued.

She, in all her graduated-from-college, successful-adult, high-level-of-maturity-ness...stuck her tongue out at him.

I giggled again, just because I couldn't help it.

Both of them turned to look at my face, and I laughed again. I had no idea why. Soon, all of us were laughing again, all of us on the floor this time. Alice had lost her balance during the latest laughter session.

Just as the laughter began to fade, a thought occurred to me. "How are Emmett and Jasper still asleep?" I voiced.

Both of them turned to look, as if they hadn't even noticed they were there. Well, _I_ had forgotten they were there.

When they turned back to me, they just shrugged with a nonchalant expression. I shrugged as well, showing it wasn't that important.

"They don't know what they're missing." Edward said while looking at me.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's hard to believe how bad this day started out...." I trailed off, remembering.

Both of them grimaced in unison. So they remembered too. Well, of course they would.

"Well, it's a new start, I guess." Edward finally broke the silence, pointing at the digital clock above the muted TV.

"Wow. 4 o' clock! I didn't know it was that late!" I truly lost track of the time.

"Time flies when you're having fun." he stated.

"True. Very true." I admitted.

"So, I'm tired now, and are we just going to leave Emmett and Jasper here?" Alice added into the conversation.

"You...you're _tired_?! How can you possibly be tired after all the coffee!" I was dumbfounded.

"Well, I didn't actually make coffee, silly! I just needed to get out of the room!"

"Oh." Well. I didn't expect her to say that. I have never heard her say, 'I didn't make coffee' after clearly stating, 'I'm going to make coffee'. I guess tonight was just, 'see Alice do strange and un-Alice-y things night.'

Or maybe it was just my mind reacting to the tired-ness. Or maybe I hit my head when I hit the floor...oh yeah. I'm still on the floor. Right. I so knew that.

I involuntarily yawned as I tried to get up. I staggered, but Edward caught me again. Funny. I didn't see him get up.

"Thanks." I mumbled.

"So, what are we going to do with them?" Alice said again as Edward steadied me.

"I say that we leave them. Jasper looks comfortable, and Emmett doesn't. Perfectly fine with me."

"Good plan!" Alice gave him a thumbs up.

I giggled but gave him one of those cheesy smiles and a double thumbs-up to show my approval.

"Well, I'm taking Jazzy's bed–"

"Since you know your way around it so well." Edward jumped in.

"Hey. Don't go there." She warned. "Anyway, I'm taking his, and, Bella, I seriously advise you _not_ to sleep in Emmett's bed. You may just come across a stray piece of pizza or something in the bed. Nasty." she had an expression of horror on her face to show her disapproval. "That just leaves you with Edward." she smiled at her obviously devised plan.

"No, it's fine. I don't want to inconvenience anyone. I'll just go in Emmett's bed. I doubt it's as bad as you say."

"No, it's as bad as she said." Edward added.

Alice nodded in agreement, and I narrowed my eyes. I knew what she was trying to pull. I just wanted to see what she would do. "Well, like I said, it's really his apartment and I don't want to get in the way, so I'll sleep there."

But it wasn't her who reacted. "I do hope you realize that I'm not allowing you to sleep there." Edward chimed in. "You run the risk of being eaten alive. We have no idea what could have found its home in there. Plus, the scent might make you faint. I'm not letting that happen." he warned. Could anyone's room really be that bad? "Besides, you have already been in my room, so you've seen that it is remotely clean."

Ugh. I was so going to lose this fight. Not just because of logic, but because my will power started crumbling the second his eyes burned into mine. "But, I–" I tried to get out.

"Oh, Bella! I have some clothes here that you could sleep in!" Alice said excitedly. I had forgotten that she was even there.

I just sighed. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever." I said, turning back to Edward as she stole out of the room.

"Man, I really hate when she does that..."

"What?" he asked, smiling smugly like he already knew.

"Put me in awkward conversations. She just _had_ to go and bring up the option of me sleeping in your bed!" I paused, thinking that over. "That just sounded _really_ wrong." I concluded.

He chuckled, and that made me blush. "Stop laughing at me!"

"I'm not laughing at you. Just your choice of words." He corrected.

"Same thing."

"Not really."

"Whatever." I conceded.

"Here ya go!" Alice said as she basically attacked me with the clothes she had thrown. She should have known better; I was never one for hand-eye coordination. Or coordination in general.

Despite the fact that she had thrown them right at my face, I still managed to flinch away enough to let them slip right through my fingers...or five inches from my hand, to be more specific.

Edward caught it effortlessly before it even hit the ground. He snickered, but handed it to me.

"You're laughing at me again." I pointed out in a small voice.

"Am not."

I shot him a questioning glance, and he just snickered some more. I let out a frustrated sigh. "Where's the bathroom?" I asked, to change the subject.

"Down the hall, to the left." Alice pointed it out. When I tried to locate it myself, I had been making no progress until Alice huffed and pulled me by the wrist in the right direction. I just got lost in a 4-by-4 apartment. Wow. Nice.

I wanted to take a shower, but I had no idea how to work it, so I called out; "Um...how does the shower work?" I heard a snicker from the other room (most likely Edward) and an angry sigh, which I'm guessing was Alice. Alice came in and turned the water on for me. "Thanks."

"No prob. Besides, I find enjoyment in the fact that you can't even figure out how to work a shower."

"Haha. You're funny." I said sarcastically. She just stuck her tongue out at me and turned to leave. As she was passing through the door frame, she turned slightly to give me a wicked grin. "Oh, and have fun with Edward tonight."

I blushed, but came to my senses fast enough to find something to throw at her. She turned to run, but not before I could fling an unopened toothbrush at her. It would have hit her, except for the fact that she closed the door behind her as she ran. At least it was a toothbrush, and it didn't leave a dent in the door or anything. I heard her giggle on the other side of the door, from the living room I presumed.

--

When I finished my shower about 10 minutes later (Alice had shampoo and basically any other bathroom necessity know to man stocked in here) I got dressed and walked out to see Edward and Alice playing a game of poker.

Alice looked up with a smirk on her face. I guess she had a good hand. "Go. Fish." she said slowly to exaggerate the moment.

Well, at least I thought it was poker.

Edward's face dropped in defeat, and he threw his cards down to the table.

I snickered at them. They seriously were like brother and sister.

Both of their heads snapped up to meet my eyes. Huh. I guess they didn't know I was here.

"How long have you been standing there?" Alice wondered.

"Long enough to see the end of your game."

"Oh. Yeah. You saw that. Well, we take games very seriously here." she explained.

"'Go Fish'?" I smirked. "Real serious."

"Hey." she wagged her finger at me. "No knocking my game approach."

"OKAY Alice. Whatever you say." I replied.

"ANYWAY," She exaggerated to get my attention away from the previous conversation. "I made the bed that you and Edward are going to sleep on." she got one of those evil glares again. "Since, you know, I walked in and the sheets were all messed up from you two doing who-knows-what."

I could feel my face going completely red now. "I-I fell!" I tried to explain, to no avail.

"Suuuuuuure." She rolled her eyes.

I flushed. I was so frustrated that I didn't know what to say. "Ugh!" was all that came out.

"Alice, that was really uncalled for." Edward said calmly. How did he not take offense in this?

"Eh, it was still funny." She shrugged it off.

"Oh. Yeah. Hilarious!" I said as I walked out of the room, my face still red, I'm sure.

"Alice, did you really have to say that?" I heard Edward say from the other room.

"Well, I thought so, but now I feel bad..."

"You should." Edward stated. By now I had made it to the bedroom. I walked in and closed the door behind me. The light was off, so naturally I had problems making my way to the bed, but I got there. I was about to get under the covers when I heard the door open partially and a wedge of light enter the room. I had to squint to see who it was.

"Bella?" Edward said.

"Yeah?"

"I'm here to apologize for Alice. She doesn't really want to admit it, but she was wrong for saying that." He explained. "That, and I'm here to sleep. It's already four-fifteen. If I don't sleep now, I'll never wake up tomor– today, I guess."

"It's fine. What I think is funny and what Alice thinks is funny are two different things."

"Yeah, I implied as much, judging by your reaction."

I blushed. "Yeah..." I trailed off as I got into the bed and faced the wall. I heard him snicker, but then I heard him yell, "Goodnight, Alice!" into the other room.

I managed a half intelligible, 'Night.' before Edward shut the door and got into the bed on the other side.

"Goodnight, Bella." I heard him say quietly.

"Goodnight, Edward." I said. I'm not really sure if he even heard me. I was already half asleep when I said it. "See you in the morning..." I trailed off. I don't know if I even got that whole sentence out.

**BN: (sekhmetkitty002) Okay, the PurpleDragonOfAmazingness is in fact so amazing that I didn't have to do anything except write this note. Anything. That, my friends, is amazingness. You should be able to look forward to many speedy updates in the future, as she and I am having an UPDATE BATTLE! May the fastest typer win!**

**--**

**AN: TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE MOVIE! I've already seen it 3 times. (12:01 on Friday morning, 9:20 Friday night, and 4:30 today (Saturday) ) I was only supposed to see the 9:20 one, but when you beg, you get things. I, personally, thought that the first time was mildly painful to watch. I think the shudder in biology part was gay, as was the part where he stared at her like a molester in the same scene. Oh, and did anyone else notice that, when James bit her, Bella kinda-sorta looked like she was having an orgasm? Or was that just me? **

**On a plus side, the rest of the movie was really good. Charlie was the star of the movie. "I'm down with the kids." "Oh yeah dude. You're the bomb." he was funny! :) Watching it the 2nd and 3rd times were much easier, once I knew what to expect. The kiss scene was great, too. Here were my cousins views: (she hasn't read the book) "Was she like, trying to have sex with him? Cuz I just looked and she had like, no pants on. I don't know if she took them off, but then he like, spazzed out, so I assumed." And my new brother-in-law, Chris, said: (he hasn't read it either, and he came with me 2/3 times to the movie) -after the 2nd time- "Man, that movie is good. I so wanna be a vampire now. I feel so gay, voluteering to go twice and all, but it was good!" He liked the part were he climbed the tree. And the fight scene. Of course. He _is_ my age (12) after all, so that's about what I expected from him. Also, did anyone else notice that, 1) they never once said 'I love you', and 2) no one ever mentioned Jasper's power at all? Jasper was kinda creepy. Didn't he only have, like, 3 lines?**

**All in all, I really liked it. I know I'm kind of opinionated, but oh well. It was still a good movie!**

**-Jazz**


	6. Alice On Crack And Emmett's French Toast

_This was one of those dreams that, no matter how much you run, you get nowhere, maybe even further back from where you started._

_That was me. _

_I was just walking, but no matter how far I got, everything just looked the same. The signs were the same colors, but I couldn't see what they said. My vision was obscured by something, but I didn't know what. Lack of subconscious details? Maybe, but I never remembered being here, ever._

_I looked down, only to realize that I was still in the dress that I was wearing last night. Why?_

_As I kept walking, things got more and more unrecognizable, colors being undescribable. It just felt like a long, black path that went on forever._

_Suddenly, a bright pang of light flash in front of my face, and it stayed there. It didn't go away like I thought it would._

_I walked toward it, squinting as I realized that I would be able to see it as the distance between me and whatever it was decreased. _

_I could see it now, and I knew where I was. The whole street was still black, but I could see this. It was the same Starbucks from last night... _

_I was mesmerized by the sign, and I pondered why I could see it and not anything else as I continued to near the shop._

_Since I wasn't looking at my feet, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I tripped and fell._

_It was no big deal, but I was suddenly overcome with sadness for some reason._

_I sat there on the cold, black floor, trying to figure out why I was crying now, of all times. It was just irrational, wasn't it? _

_My eyes widened as I realized that I was crying over, and that it was irrational._

_I was crying because no one was there to catch me when I fell, like last time..._

I awoke with a start noticing that no light was coming through the window. How could it still be night?

As I became more aware of my surroundings, I panicked. Not only was I not familiar with where I was, but I was much more comfortable now than when I fell asleep. That's not right...

_Oh crap._ I figured out where I was. In Edward's room. Cuddled into his chest. He had his arms wrapped around me, and for some reason, his shirt was wet. I thought about why that could be for a second, before realizing how weird this situation really was.

_Well, this certainly is awkward..._

Great. Now, if there was any chance at all that we could be friends, it was dashed now. And it was all my fault.

_This goes way beyond weird._

I quickly, and as swiftly as I could, tried to get out of his arms so that I could sleep on the couch or something, but when got off the bed my foot got caught in one of the sheets and I crashed to the floor.

"Bella?" I heard him mumble.

I blushed, but grabbed a blanket that I had found on the floor and made a run for the door. As I was about to leave, I spun around to look at him to apologize. "I, um...I-I'm sorry..." I blushed even deeper, remembering. I ran out to the living room, where I spent most of last night.

I sat on the couch, and looked at the clock. It's only 6 o' clock. I just sat there, thinking about what had driven me to do that. I only just met him!

I guess I was in some sort of trance, broken only when I heard someone speak my name; "Bella?"

I snapped my head up to find Edward standing only a foot or so away. I felt my face get redder just looking at him, knowing what had just happened.

"Bella...I just wanted to say sorry...and I also wanted to know why you left..." he trailed off, looking very uncomfortable.

"I was...and I woke up...and...wait, what?" I was suddenly confused. Not like I wasn't confused before, but more so now. "What are you sorry for?"

"On the contrary; what are _you_ sorry for?" I still didn't really understand, so when I didn't answer, he sat down next to me on the couch. "You were asleep...and you started talking..." Oh great. Nothing good could come with that. "You were saying a series of things, none of which were intelligible, but you were tossing and turning a lot...and I don't know what you were dreaming of in particular, but then you started crying. I had to do something, and I...well, you know." he gave me a sheepish grin as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "Eventually, you stopped crying, but I guess I fell asleep..." he trailed off agin.

"I-I was crying?" I knew in my dream...but seriously?

"Yeah...I felt so bad, so I couldn't do nothing..." he explained. "Well, I guess I can understand why you left." He said, looking at me apologetically.

"No, it's not like that!" I said quickly. "I left because I thought it was my fault...and that it was pretty awkward, so I didn't want to make it worse by staying there..."

"May I ask what you were dreaming about?" He said. " I mean...only if you...want...to..."

"Um..." I was just thinking about telling him, when I reconsidered. I told him a...modified version, that was still the truth. "I was just dreaming about everything that happened yesterday." I said carefully.

"Oh." he looked like he was thinking it over.

"It was probably just because the whole day was bad." I started blabbing uncontrollably, trying to explain further so he didn't suspect anything, and also so he wouldn't get the wrong idea... "In context, it probably sounded like I was crying because the date was bad, but that's no reason to cry. Bad dates are the story of some peoples lives, so it must have sounded really stupid, me crying over a date and all. No, it was just that very little was good about it..." I was trying to keep it truthful and make sense of my story at the same time.

"Bella, you didn't sound stupid. Why would you think that?" he sounded kind of annoyed...I wonder what I did.

"Well, I thought that...well, I thought maybe it would make me sound stuck-up if I said I cried because one date didn't go well. I'm not like that." I looked down, unsure of what to really say. This was just mildly awkward. I really _was_ telling the full truth now, though. I didn't want him to think of me like that.

"I can tell you're not like that, Bella, you don't need to tell me. It was just that, seeing you in pain, no matter what caused it..." he stopped mid-sentence, then quickly changed the subject. "I'm not going to let you sleep out here. You are the guest, and I wont allow you to sleep on the couch of all places."

I went with it, seeing as the other conversation was sure to be very strange. "Well, I...what if that, like, happened again...?" I asked. Wrong. Both subjects were sure to be strange. Stupid mouth, always has to say stupid things.

He thought about it for a second before responding. "Well, how about I apologize in advance, just in case it does?" he asked. "You're not sleeping here, so I'm only humoring you with that." he added as an afterthought.

"Fine, if that's the best I'll get." I conceded.

"Well, then I am sorry."

"As am I."

"I thought we already concluded that it's my fault, not yours." he stated.

"Well, first, I still think it's my fault, and second, it's for the future, remember?" I said, really apologizing for what had just happened, even though I said otherwise. It was still true I was apologizing for later, so it didn't sound like a lie.

"It _is_ my fault, but you are right, it's for the future, so I accept your apology. What you could possibly do to upset me, I don't know, but I accept anyway."

I yawned involuntarily while he said that, probably coming across as rude as I did so. "Sorry." I apologized, still half-yawning. "You're lucky, I'm too tired to pass up a comfortable bed right now."

"You would have lost if you fought anyway. I still don't see why you'd put up a fight in the first place, though."

"I just don't want to impose...this is your house, after all, and I don't want to mess up anything or get in the way."

"Bella, you are not imposing, and you haven't messed anything up, nor have you gotten in anyone's way. So relax."

"Mmm, k." I mumbled. I really didn't want to argue. I was already partially asleep on the couch, but I managed to get up and drag myself to the bedroom.

I plopped myself onto the bed and waited for sleep to take over me again. I didn't take very long, but I was just on the edge on consciousness when I heard someone enter again. I think it was Edward, but I was too tired to really care.

I don't when or even if it happened, but then I felt a cool hand brush the hair from my face away, behind my ear. I also heard in the distance, "Don't cry this time Bella, please..." but it sounded more like he was talking to himself.

Huh. I must have already been dreaming. Well, this one was much better than the last one already.

--

I should mention that I'm not a morning person. Rough translation; when someone wakes me up by jumping on my bed while chanting, "Bella, Bella, Bella, WAKE UP!", my day is already starting off badly.

"WHAT THE F—, ALICE?!?" I yelled back.

"Beeeeelllllllllllaaaaa!" she sang.

"WHAT?!"

"Jeez, don't be so hostile. I'm just here to tell you that Edward is done making breakfast/ lunch, and I wanted to know if you wanted to eat."

"What time is it?" I asked, keying in on the 'breakfast/ lunch' part.

"11:30. Emmett and Jazz are still sleeping, so we were all alone and needed some company."

"Why can't you two just play another rousing game of 'Go Fish' without me? I want to sleep..." I buried my face into my pillow, hopefully implying for her to leave me alone.

She didn't take the hint. "You must be hungry, though."

"No, I'm not." My stomach had other plans, however. As if on cue, it grumbled.

"Yes, you are. No come on, lets go!"

"If I say I'll get up, will you leave me alone?"

"No silly! You actually have to get up!" she said. "Like, right now!"

"Why?" I questioned.

"Cuz then the food's gonna be all cold!" she said, disappointment lacing her tone.

"The horror." I mocked.

"Come on, get up or I'll roll you out of bed!"

I sighed. "Okay, okay." I said, moving my body into a sitting position. "I'm up. Happy?"

"Yes, yes I am." she said while tugging at my wrist for me to follow her.

I did follow her, and as I exited the room, the scent of french toast wafted into the hallway. I was suddenly aware of how hungry I was as my stomach growled again.

"Smells good, huh?"

"Yeah!" I told her.

"He was being lazy. We could have pancakes, but no. it's french toast."

"It's still better than the 'Lucky Charms' I usually have, so I'm not complaining." We were almost in the living room now, (the living room is just outside the kitchen) but before we entered, Alice turned around a whispered, "I helped make them, you know." in my ear.

"You did not!" I heard Edward exclaimed from close by.

"You heard that?!" Alice asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, and I do happen to know that you did no such thing!" he said to her. Then he turned to me. "She just left, saying, 'Hey, get me some orange juice, will you?' on her way out." he joked.

"I did not!" Alice playfully slapped him with the newspaper she had retrieved from the arm of the couch.

"You did so!"

"I went to get the newspaper!" she explained, holding her left hand up to display her proof of said event.

"And?" he pressed, smirking.

"You know what? Eat your toast before I shove it up your–"

"Alice!" I cut her off.

Edward chuckled at my reaction. "You know, I think I will eat the toast that _I_ made, thank you very much."

She held up the newspaper again, threatening him with it.

"Oooh. I'm so scared! Alice with a newspaper!" he threw his hands up in mock horror.

"You _should_ be scared!" she retorted, keeping with the light conversation. "I go RAWR!" she made this face where she had her teeth bared, but it looked funny, not threatening at all.

I giggled at her face, and Edward chuckled. "Did you seriously just say 'Rawr' Alice?" Edward asked skeptically. "Are you on crack or something?" he joked.

"It _is_ a possibility." I admitted.

"Oh, shut up, you two!" she laughed, smacking me on the back of the head.

"Ow! Why'd you do that to me? I thought smacking Edward was your thing!" I said playfully.

"Well, I was paying to much attention to Edward, and I thought you might have felt left out! Excuse me for being considerate!"

"Yes, excuse you!" I continued.

"Guys, the food is getting cold!" Edward called from the kitchen. When did he leave...?

I started walking into the kitchen, but before I actually entered the room, I heard a low grumble coming from my left. I quickly directed my attention to the cause of the sound, only to find Emmett's head lolling, only yet half-awake. "DidIhearfood??" he questioned. It all came out in a single breath, sounding like one mushed-up word.

"Yes, you did, Emmett." Edward answered.

He rubbed his eyes as he stretched, getting up from the chair that he had made his way back into last night, right after he crashed to the ground. "Sweeeeet!" he said, his face lighting up considerably. His glee was equivalent to a young boy around the age of 13 who had just found out that there is a river in South America named 'Titicaca' **(sounds like it's spelled. Ti-ti-ca-ca. Wrong, so very wrong.) **Weird analogy, but it certainly worked.

"I your stomach _all_ you think about?" Alice accused him.

Edward, who was previously on his way into the living room with a plate of french toast, turned around, still carrying the plate, as he walked back into the kitchen muttering, "Guess I'll need to make some more..A LOT more..."

I stifled a giggle at his words, and watched Emmett instead. He seemed to ponder the question for a second, rubbing his imaginary beard as he thought. "Hm...You know? I'm a little too hungry right now. Can't think on an empty stomach!" Emmett said as he ran to the kitchen.

Alice just rolled her eyes. "Guess that answers your question." I said to her.

"It sure does."

As I walked into the kitchen, following Alice, I saw 2 plates on the table; one with 4 pieces of french toast on it, and the other with somewhere between 10 and 12, tops.

"That's all you're giving Emmett?" Alice asked skeptically, motioning towards the plate with only four.

"Oh, no." Edward shook his head in disbelief, as if that question was completely absurd and not even worth asking in the first place. "_That_ one is." He told us, pointing to the one with loaded with more french toast than I could consume in a whole day, much less just one meal.

I continued to stare at the plate for several more seconds, my eyes probably bugging out of my head. "Are you _serious?_" I finally asked.

"Of course." Edward reassured, chuckling at my ridiculous expression, I'm sure.

"Hell, yeah!" Emmett grinned like a boy on Christmas morning. "I might even go back for seconds!"

"I'm sure you will." Edward stated, turning back to me. "How many are you going to have?" He asked.

"Me? Um...1, please. I'm not that hungry."

"Sure." He smiled and grabbed a plate for me. I took it and walked over to the table that Emmett was sitting at, inside the kitchen area, which was rather large for an apartment. Large enough to accommodate not only a table, but an even bigger feat; Emmett. And his massive serving of french toast as well.

I sat down, wondering what I was supposed to do today...hm, what is today, anyway? Saturday? Oh, right...I had that thing tonight, with Alice.

Her father's annual charity ball, that I was helping to organize. Every year, it happens on Christmas day, and since Alice is loaded, her dad even more so, the invites were exclusive and elusive. I was lucky I even got to witness it.

I'm on the committee, so I get to do all the decorating and such. Joy. I was never the most creative person, so hopefully I have some help with the details, otherwise this year will have the worst turnout.

Fun, fun day ahead.

--

**BN: Yay! the charity ball! Yay! it will be awesome, I promise you. So you should all REVIEW to tell ThePurpleDragonOfAmazingness how truly amazing she is. Or else, bad things will happen, like Emmett won't get more french toast!**

**--**

**AN: Yes, Emmett being devprived of french toast is certainly a big deal. RVIEW!**

**Oh, and I didn't have a song for the last chapter, so here it is;**

**A Twist In My Story -- Secondhand Serenade (the song this story is named after)**

**and the song for this chapter; (it's just one of my favorites)**

**Hey Brittany! -- Forever The Sickest Kids**

**--Jazz**


	7. I just want to slap them!

**(There will be a date at the beginning from now on, just because I got so far behind, and I wanted a Christmas chapter, but it wont be up until well after Christmas.) **

**7. I Just Want To Slap Them!**

_December 17__th__, 2008_

**Bella.**

"Bella, hurry UP!" Alice shouted impatiently from the other room. "Did you forget how to use the shower again??"

"No, I did fine with that, thank you very much." I said as I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me do so. "I'm almost done. Just chill for a second." I reassured, as I quickly fixed my hair into a quick ponytail. Alice had let me use some of her clothes (surprisingly, I fit into them, regardless of her tiny figure) and I was currently wearing a pair of (Alice's) skinny jeans with a white tee-shirt (also Alice's) underneath (Alice's) blue Abercrombie jacket. Ugh. It still _smelled_ like Abercrombie. This brought back painful memories...

I quickly shook the thoughts off as I opened the door to exit the bathroom.

"What took you so long?!" Alice threw her hands up in flustered confusion. "Were you–"

"No, whatever you think I was doing, I wasn't doing it." I quickly answered before she could finish, so as to not say anything I'd regret later. "Why do we have to go this early anyway?"

"Well, we have some shopping to do, duh!" She looked at me as if I was an idiot for thinking otherwise. "I need to get some shoes!"

"But we were in the mall yesterday! Why couldn't you get shoes then?!" Was she serious?

"Well, I wasn't in the 'shoe mood' yesterday," she explained, her eyes questioning why I didn't figure this out earlier.

I shook my head in mock disappointment at her choice of words as I laughed lightly and replied, "You're unbelievable, Alice!"

"Yeah, yeah. Now let's go!" she pulled at my wrist, towing me behind her through the door. "Bye guys!" she called over her shoulder.

"Bye!" I yelled as well, hearing three muffled farewells as we rushed down the stairs. In the back of my mind, I wondered if Edward actually carried me up so many stairs...

I was pulled back to reality as I caught my foot on the last step of the flight of stairs I was currently descending. I tumbled to the floor, landing on my knees.

"Bella!" I heard Alice say as she tried to steady me. She was still holding my wrist as if her hand was soldered to it, and because of that fact, I didn't fall even further then I did. "Are you okay?!"

"Yep. I'm fine." I reassured as I continued down the next flight. She jumped ahead of me and opened the door at the bottom, holding it open.

"Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself again," she said as I passed through the door she held open.

"Haha. Funny." She just smiled in response while pressing the button on her key that unlocks her Porsche.

I climbed in the passenger seat, while she entered the driver's side.

We drove without a conversation, seeing as it could not even be attempted with All Time Low's _'Poppin Champagne' _blasting through her extremely complex sound system. It droned out every other sound, until nothing else could be heard except it and Alice's rendition of the song. I'm pretty sure my ears were bleeding. The upbeat sound reverberated throughout the car, melding with my heartbeat.

By the time we arrived, we had listened to about 10 songs, hand chosen by Alice. I had no say in the matter, because she wanted to show me what her new favorite song of the day was. It varied each day, so I never knew what to expect. **(Sounds a lot like me, lol)**

I reluctantly got out of the car, making as much of a show of my distaste for the situation as possible. Alice was not pleased; she saw me dragging my feet and lagging behind at a sluggish pace (as opposed to her jumpy attitude) and she grabbed my limp wrist and pulled. I didn't realize that we had made it to the entrance because I was looking down at my feet, but I found it as soon as I hit my head on the automatic door.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, bringing the hand that wasn't currently in Alice's possession and holding tightly to the spot above my eye where the door had hit. Alice turned to make sure I was okay, even asked if I was okay, but then she continued dragging me mercilessly to the store of her choice just seconds after, in a manner that made it look like she didn't care.

"Alice!" I said, disappointed in her reaction to my pain.

"What?" She said, "I'm on a mission here, and I can't stop and baby you because of every injury you get, which is a lot, by the way!" She explained while her eyes roamed thoughtfully, probably deciding which store would fit her needs.

"Ouch. That hurt." I said, feigning pain and looking overly-dramatic doing so. "You could at least pretend that you care, though."

"I do care, Bella! I just...need to...find...something..." She trailed off as she looked around every corner to find whatever it was she was so intent on finding, with an expression that looked distant, as if she was remembering something.

"Oh? And what would that something be?" I questioned.

"Hmm...," She said thoughtfully, completely ignoring my question. "Ah-ha!" all of a sudden, she tugged on my wrist with so much force that it almost caused me to fall over, had she not balanced me. "Come on! I remember where I wanted to bring you!"

**

2 hours and 32 dresses later, I was about to collapse from exhaustion. The problem was, every time I tried to fall asleep, a certain evil, short, black-haired girl would scream something along the lines of: "OMIGOSH, BELLA!!! You HAVE to try this on!!" I would groan in response, look upon the dress in her hands with disdain, reply with, "Do I have to NOW?? It's next week! Not tomorrow!" she would give me a death glare that genuinely horrified me, and I would take the dress and try it on.

And the cycle would repeat. Constantly.

I was finally at the point of nodding off (I was determined to regain the lost sleep from the night before) when I heard a slight intake of breath.

"Bella," I heard Alice said, calmly for a change, "Take a look at this..." She simply held the dress in front of her, staring at it as if it was her life's mission to find it. I couldn't get a clear view of it from where I was sitting, so I got up to see what could possibly cause Alice to react in such a way.

When I came into view, she turned to look at me, with the same look in her eyes as when she was staring at the dress.

Wordlessly, she turned the dress so I could see the front.

It was, in a single word, stunning. However, if I was using multiple words, it would be something like; elegantly flowing to the floor in an effortless motion. The dress was a satin blue, made of a silky material. It was strapless and very form fitting before flowing out into a loser bottom, the front short than the back, letting the subject's legs show. A piece of material was tucked in at the bodice before trailing down, joining the skirt. It was a deep, intense blue that could make anyone look like they were walking around in a blanket of water. **(Link on profile. Well, it should be. If you don't see it, PM me)** ...And I was scared to even look at it for some reason. I just didn't think I was worthy of a dress of this magnitude. I couldn't possibly wear this and pull it off! What was Alice thinking?! She was just setting herself up for disappointment, in my opinion; she gets all worked up, only to realize that I'm not pretty enough for her taste in fashion.

I still couldn't help the small intake of air that entered me. The dress did that simply; it knocked the breath right out of me. Alice could wear this, but not me. No, this wasn't something I could wear, and Alice knew that! Or, she should anyway. She knows all about my average-ness, and all about her amazing-ness. She heard it from me every day!

I stared at it, nonetheless. It was amazing...maybe Alice picked it out for herself. If it was tailored to fit her petite frame, she would look like the incarnation of Aphrodite.

All hope of that situation was dashed when Alice snapped back into her hyper self, handing me the dress with an obscene level of enthusiasm. "Bella! Try it on! It's perfect, and you know it!"

I kept glancing down at the dress that was now in my arms, and back to Alice's face repeatedly. Each time I looked at Alice, her expression changed. She looked kinda pissed now to be honest.

"Bella," She said. Yep. Annoyed, for sure. "You _are_ trying it on. There is no avoiding it. So stop stalling and get in there!" She pushed me, and the next thing I knew, I was in the dressing room.

"Alice!" I gasped in exasperation. How had she done that so fast?

"No dice Bella. Locked from the outside." Can you even do that? She could be bluffing... "What is you aversion to the dress, anyway?"

"This isn't a dress for me!" I stated the obvious. "This is a dress for a supermodel!"

"You're right. It _is_ a dress for a model. But you're pretty close to that mark, Bella. Don't you see that?"

I sighed. Alice wasn't going to give up, and, if it wasn't really locked from the outside (I highly doubt it would be), Alice would have her back to the door to prevent my exit. Might as well do what she asked.

**

It felt like she was looking at me for hours. I was beginning to grow self-conscious, so I looked down at my feet instead of at the wall.

After what seemed like eternity, Alice spoke up, "You...look....perfect, Bella!"

I looked up at her as she spoke. "Seriously!" she continued, "I'll be excited for you again! I can't wait to go to the ball, just to show you off!"

"Alice, be serious." I said to her. She was just trying to make me feel better.

"Okay," Alice said, clearly annoyed, a complete 180 from before. Her mood swings were giving me whiplash, I swear. "You are not going to ruin my fun with your pessimism, got it?" she went on, sternly, sounding like a mother who was scolding her child for making a public scene.

"Fine, Alice." I gave in after a moment of deliberation. And she was right, this is the best dress we've looked at so far.

We ended up getting the dress and a pair of shoes, heels, to be exact. **(Shoes are in the same picture as the dress)** I couldn't help but think they would be the death of me.

We went up to pay, and against my better judgment, Alice was paying. Okay, so not my judgment, my will. Alice wouldn't let me charge it to my card no matter how much I pleaded.

"No," She told me, sounding like the mother again, "You just want to pay so that you can go, 'no, I have no money, and I won't let you pay, 'cause I don't want to impose!'", she said in a high-pitched version of my voice, with a mocking edge to it, "the next time I ask you to come shopping!"

Huh. I had never even thought of that. I might have to use that next time...but for now, her decision wasn't going to waver, so, for the up-teenth time today, I gave in to Alice's willpower.

Alice

Bella was _really _starting to get on my nerves. She just won't see herself clearly, and she doesn't think she's good enough for anything. Sometimes, I just want to slap her really hard with something to nock some sense into her.

This is one of those times, but I refrained, only because I thought that the door had done my part. I was wrong, apparently. Gosh, she was SO stubborn sometimes!

She was beautiful, and she knew it. Well, she _should_ know. Last night, all of us saw the effect Bella had on Edward. All of us, minus Bella herself of course. UGH! It was so frustrating! She looked gorgeous in the dress, and she asked me if I was serious. Of course I'm serious! No one, not even Heidi Klum could have pulled of that dress as well as Bella did. I would have told her that, but I know better than to waste my breath. She would have just denied it and say I was trying to make her feel better, just like every other time. I'll just wait 'til the ball, then she'll see how amazing she is when every guy wants to dance with her. That's the plan.

I gripped the steering wheel and made a sharp left, making Bella grab the seat and cling to it with fear. I let a small smile overcome my lips at her reaction. She had never been here before, even if this route was one I'd taken so many times that I knew when to make every turn without even thinking twice about my actions. But she didn't know about that. So here I am, going 80 mph, and pulling turns that she didn't even think possible at this speed. Heck, even if she'd come to the planning sessions, (where we make the layout and event schedule) she'd be scared to drive with me here. She just couldn't get used to the speed at which I drive. Silly Bella!

Her eyes were glued to the windshield (I knew because she hadn't moved an inch since she got in, except to cling even harder to the seat for dear life) and I'm not sure if she blinked at all. I parallel parked next to the sidewalk, in front of the dining hall we would be using. I got out, but when I started to move toward the door, I noticed that no one was following me when a certain person named Bella should be.

I looked back, and she was still in the car, staring blankly at the windshield, looking much like a deer in the headlights right now. I made my way back over to the car, but she didn't even seem to notice my presence. I laughed at her expression, and taped the window to get her attention.

Her head turned quickly and her eyes met mine, and I laughed again. She looked scared sh*tless!

She began to glare at me, and that's when I knew she had returned to normal. My laughter faded as she got out of the car, but then she started defending herself. "That was scary! I thought you would turn us into a crumpled heap of Porsche as we suddenly hit a building!"

"Bella, that would never happen!" I said as my laughter came out again.

"You never know!"

"We made it here alive, didn't we?" I retorted.

"Just barely!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands over her head for extra emphasis.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get you panties in a bunch." I said, hoping I got the quote right...

"Whatever, Alice." She was annoyed now, which just made me laugh harder. "Let's just go, okay?"

"Okay!" I told her as my laughter died again.

As we entered, I heard her small intake of breath and I smiled.

"Alice...this place is huge!" She said.

"Well, now that we've cleared up the obvious, wanna go get acquainted with the designing team that you'll be on?" The size of this place never phased me anymore. I came here every year, and every weekend for three months leading up to Christmas, whereas this was Bella's first time.

"Uh...sure...?" She said, sounding like she was asking for permission.

"Yeah, go on! All the people with the green name tags...which reminds me!" I said as I slapped a green one that said 'Bella' on it right on her chest. "Almost forgot!"

"Okay..." she said, still unsure of what she should do, but she walked off anyway.

**

"No, Jake, 2 more feet to the left!" I threw out directions to Jacob, who was placing the banner up. "A little more to the left...no, too far! To the right, now...more, more....THERE! Perfect!"

"That's where it was before!" He said.

"No, it was not!"

"Yeah, it was. I marked it." he told me, pointing to a blue tape mark right above the end of the banner. "I marked it _before_ you told me to rearrange it."

"Oh. Whatever." I said, waving him off. I didn't like being wrong.

He rolled his eyes, but went off to see his crew that was in charge of all the guy stuff, like lifting and climbing ladders and what not. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the side door open, and five familiar faces enter. Four wonderful, one, not so much.

I ran over to the crowd, and threw my arms around my favorite. "Hey Jazzy!" I exclaimed. "Why are you guys late?" Not that I minded that I got some time away from the not-so-wonderful one.

"Emmett had to hand in his report when he went to class, so he wanted all of us to wait on him." Edward explained. At the sound of his voice, Tanya visibly swooned, and Rose shot her a thumbs-up, that I'm sure was meant to be inconspicuous. Ugh. I wanted to slap her more that I wanted to slap Bella, but for the same reasons. To drill some common sense into her. To help Bella figure out that she's beautiful, and to tell miss Tanya that she's a skank, and that Edward is NOT INTERESTED. She didn't seem to get it. I mean, he could push her away (phsically), scream at her, and so much more and she still would pursue him, but he would never do that, he's too polite. I just wanna scream at him, "CUT THE BS, EDWARD, AND TELL HER OFF!" **(Haha. I just realized that Bella's initials are BS when I wrote that. XD so random.)** But, of course, there is no way to avoid her, since she is Rose's friend. If Tanya alone was bad, then Rosalie and Tanya together are horrible. Rose is _helping_ Tanya land Edward. It's beyond sickening. I really feel sorry for the guy. Maybe Bella could intervene.... I smiled at the sound of that.

"What are you so happy about?" Emmett inquired confusedly. I can see where his confusion branched from, though. Everyone knew my distaste for Tanya, and here I was, looking right at her and smiling. Not a fake smile either, like the one I usually wore around her, but an honest-to -goodness "Nordstrom's is having a sale" type smile. She was looking at me like I belonged in an asylum. I doubt she even knew how to spell 'asylum', but whatever.

"Just thinking about something." I explained nonchalantly, throwing a quick glance towards Tanya, who, in turn, narrowed her eyes. I just continued to smile, enjoying her confusion and skepticism. "Alright, so, let's get to work! You guys have to make up for lost time!" I said, both to break the silence and to change the subject. Rose didn't buy it.

When they all broke off, (Emmett following Jasper to their station, and Tanya following Behind Edward, no matter how many times he tried to lose her by saying he needed to work) I felt Rose tap me on the shoulder as I turned to leave. I knew this was coming...

"Who was that 'mystery guest' that Emmett, Edward, and Jasper said stayed the night?" She asked, eyes shooting daggers at me.

"That was Bella. She's here, you know." She looked even more pissed than before, if that was possible.

"And how was Edward involved?"

"Oh, he quite enjoyed Bella's company," I added slyly, hoping to see her reaction.

"You know that Tanya wants him! Don't let anyone get in her way!" she hissed.

"No, I can't agree to that. See that, over there?" I said, pointing to where Edward was swatting away Tanya's arm from his shoulder. "That would be Edward rejecting her advances. He. Doesn't. Like. Her. At _all_." I emphasized each word, especially the last. When I saw her murderous glare, I decided to explain further, "Look, I don't care if she is your 'bff', if Edward doesn't want her, he shouldn't be forced. Let him be with who he wants to be with."

"Oh, is that why you set them up?"

Wtf? "Huh? No, they met WITHOUT my involvement. I had nothing to do with it. And," I went on, "if it's her that he wants, I will personally _make sure_ that Tanya stays _out._" I said with authority, making sure she understood that I was one hundred-percent serious. We exchanged glares before she turned her heel to leave, conceding defeat.

I love winning.

**BN: so, we all know that ThePurpleDragonOfAmazingness is awesome, yes? One might even think it goes without saying. But that one would be WRONG, and would then be attacked by Bernardo the Wombat, who I have saved especially to unleash on those who are wrong. So unless you want to end up like the one, I would suggest reviewing. That is all.**

**AN: XD yes, do what my amazing beta suggests! I love her with all my toes for being amazing. You need to love her too, got it? Or Bobo and Anthony, the squirrels will hunt you down, but since there are 2 of them they can go twice as fast.  
****Muahahahaha!  
****Oh, and can someone please give me the link to the Twilight awards? I am nominating my betas (**sekhmetkitty002**) story, whether she wants me to or not.  
Song pimpage: _Poppin' Champagne _by All Time Low, and _Dead! _by My Chemical Romance . Song pimpage for LAST chapter that I forgot: _Forever and Always_ by Taylor Swift.****  
****And, I would like to end with a question; what was the worst/funniest Christmas present you've EVER gotten? If anyone cares to know mine, well, I just got a jumbo box of SIDEWALK CHALK in the mail! What every 13 year old wants. In the middle of winter. In Connecticut. Brilliant plan. (it also came with a $25 iTunes gift card, but that's beside the point.) so, tell me yours, and I will decide what the best worst gift was and tell who the winner was in the next chapter.**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!!**


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